YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Presented by the Author

ERRATA.
Page 37, et seq., for Oswin, read Oswiu.
„ 40, for Oswine's, read Oswiu's.
„ „ for Oswine, read Oswiu.
,, 126, In this and all subsequent references to
Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., for p., read cap.
„ 204,/or 1514, read 1513.
„ 205, for 2d March, read 20th March.

CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE

EDINBURGH :
PRINTED BV M'FARLANE AND ERSKINE,
ST JAMES SQUARE.

CUTHBERHT OF LlNDISFARNE

ib Jife anir %'mtB

BY

ALFRED C. FRYER, F.RHist.Soc.

LONDON
S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO., 9 PATERNOSTER ROW
1880

' How beautiful your presence, how benign,
Servant of God ! who not a thought will share
With the vain world ; who, outwardly as hare
As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign
That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine !
Such priest, when service worthy of his care
¦Has called him forth to breathe the common air,
Might seem a saintly image from the shrine
Descended :— happy are the eyes that meet
The apparition ; evil thoughts are stayed
At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat
A benediction from his voice or hand ;
Whence grace, through which the heart can understand
And vows, that bind the will, in silence made."
—Wordsworth.

PREFACE.

\ 'jN these pages is presented a concise
Fro account of Cuthberht, the saintly
apostle of Northumbria, with some
sketches of those associated in his mission.
The times in which Cuthberht lived have
been described somewhat fully. In obtain
ing some of his materials, the author has
been indebted to Dr Greenwood and the
other Trustees of Owen's College. From
the Eev. Professor Bright, of Oxford, and
the Eev. Dr Charles Eogers, of the Eoyal
Historical Society, he has received help
and encouragement. To the Eev. J. F.

PREFACE.

Fowler he is indebted for permission to
make free use of his work on St Cuthberht's
Window in York Minster. Finally, he has
to acknowledge his obligations to Mr J. D.
Crichton, of London, for verifying references,
and other useful assistance.

Elm Hirst, near Wilmslow,
Cheshire, November 1880.

CONTENTS.

Page
Preface, . .5
CHAPTER I.
The Biographers of Cuthberht— B^eda, 9
CHAPTER II.
The Predecessor of Cuthberht — Aidan, . 22
CHAPTER III.
The Boyhood of Cuthberht — Irish Legends, 44
CHAPTER IV.
Cuthberht the Shepherd, . 56
CHAPTER V.
Cuthberht the Monk — Life in a Scotic Mon
astery — Melrose and Ripon, . 64

CONTENTS.

Page

CHAPTER VI.
Wilfrith and the Easter Question, . 93
CHAPTER VII.
Cuthberht, Prior of Melrose, . . 124
CHAPTER VIII.
Lindisfarne, ... 142
CHAPTER IX.
Cuthberht, the Hermit of Farne, . .157
CHAPTER X.
Cuthberht the Bishop, . . .178
CHAPTER XI.
Rest, ... . . 192
Appendix, . . .213

CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.

CHAPTEE I.
THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT — B^DA.
" 0 Venerable Bede !
The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed
Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat
Of learning, where thou heard'st the billows beat
On a wild coast — rough monitors to feed
Perpetual industry. Sublime recluse !
The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt
Imposed on human kind, must first forget
Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use
Of a long life, and in the hour of death
The last dear service of thy passing breath. "
— Wordsworth.
RESPECTING the two biographers of
St Cuthberht, from whose works the
materials presented in the following
pages are chiefly derived, little is known.
Of the earlier, a monk of Lindisfarne, not
even the name has been preserved ; but by

10 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Bseda, who wrote at a later date, his narra
tive was used. Both biographers had one
qualification in common — they were con
temporaries of the great bishop whom
they celebrated, Bseda being, at the time
of St Cuthberht's decease in 687, fourteen
years old.
Monkton/a hamlet in the parish of Jarrow-
on-Tyne, claims honour as the birthplace of
Bseda. There in 673 2 was born this vener
able father of the Anglo-Saxon Church.
His parents' names are unknown, but he
describes himself as " born of a noble stock
of the Angles." Bseda was early devoted
to a religious life, for at the tender age of
seven he entered the monastery of St Peter
at Wearmouth, under care of the abbot.
Eespecting his instructor, Benedict Biscop,
Bseda, with a touch of that drollery which
characterised the monastic writers of his
1 A well at Monkton is still known by Bseda's name
(History of Durham, by Robert Surtees, Lond., 1816).
2 For the controversy respecting the precise date of
Bseda's birth, see Giles' Life of Bseda, p. 6.

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 11
period, writes thus : "He was a man of
venerable life, blessed {benedictus) both in
grace and in name, . . . surpassing
his age by his manners, and addicted to
no false pleasures. He was descended of
a noble lineage of the Angles, and, by a
corresponding dignity of mind, worthy to be
exalted into the company of the angels." 1
Benedict Biscop was brought up at the
court of King Oswin. Unwearied in the
pursuit of learning and zealous for the
welfare of his country, on five occasions
he visited Eome, each time bringing with
him some valuable collections. In his train
came masons and glaziers, who instructed
his countrymen in the art of church build
ing. By Benedict the monastery of Wear-
mouth was founded, and within its walls
Bseda grew up. There Trumhere, disciple
of Chad,2 and Sigfrid, a pupil of St Cuth-
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., Ann. Abbat.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 3. Chad or Ceadda was a
missionary bishop among the Mercians. The see of
Lichfield was dedicated to his memory. In 669 he was
succeeded in the archbishopric of York by Wilfrith.

12 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
berht, were his teachers in theology. By
John the arch-chanter, who had accom
panied Benedict from Eome, he was in
structed in music. And, though it has not
been recorded, it is probable that the know
ledge of Greek and Latin, for which he was
renowned, may have been acquired under
the tuition of a pupil of Archbishop Theo
dore a and his friend Adrian. A cultivator
of classical learning, Bseda manifested genius
in other fields. He acquired a knowledge
of geography, history, and medicine, also of
the exact sciences. In his native tongue
he composed extensively, but of these com
positions none remain.
"When Ceolfrid was appointed to the
charge of Jarrow — an offshoot from the
monastery of Wearmouth — Bseda, yet a
boy, accompanied the new abbot. The
old church of St Paul at Jarrow, erected
1 Theodore of Tarsus, a Greek monk, sent to Britain
from Rome in 668, became Archbishop of Canterbury.
From him the Church of England took life and form.
He died in 690.

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 13
about 685,1 stood on the right bank of the
Tyne, three miles to the south-west of South
Shields. By Grose the antiquary its situa
tion has been described thus :
"... Salt weed and stinking ooze,
Most like the drowsy flood which poets feign
Dark Styx, with wreaths of moistful osier hung."
But other writers have dwelt on the quiet
beauty of the scene. On the side of a
grassy knoll which rises above the river's
bank stands the venerable ruin. In the
foreground a disused haven, known as the
" slake," is said to have floated the fleet of
King Ecgfrith. Eound the base of the hill
cluster pit-men's cottages, and in the dis
tance the chimneys and shipping of South
Shields break the line of the horizon.
Bseda began at Jarrow a course of study
which he continued upwards of fifty years.
In the quiet of its monastic cell he qualified
1 The inscription on the dedication stone bears that
the edifice was erected in the fifteenth year of King
Ecgfrith, i.e., 685. The name of Ceolfrid is mentioned
as abbot and founder.

14 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
himself as a religious teacher. It was his
life-work to labour for the glory of God and
the good of his fellow-men ; and from first
to last he walked consistently. His was a
quiet, uneventful career, yet underneath its
calm exterior were hidden strong forces,
and his influence was destined to be felt,
not only in the narrow circle of his associ
ates, but by his age and country.
Eoused at dawn by the convent bell,
young Bseda would repair to the little church
and chant the matin hymn. We can almost
hear the fresh young voice repeat the words
of David : " Teach me, O Lord, the way
of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto
the end. Give me understanding, and I
shall keep Thy law." The day begun with
praise was passed in study, and the even
song went up from a thankful heart.
The quiet routine of his " cniht-hood," :
the term by which was expressed the period
between infancy and adolescence, was broken
by a sad event. A fatal pestilence had swept
1 Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, iii. 18.

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 15
away all in the little community who could
read, preach, or chant, except the Abbot
Ceolfrid and a small boy who had been
trained by him. x Discontinued at first
save at matins and vespers, the services
were afterwards chanted in full by Ceolfrid
and the young neophyte until they were
joined by competent assistants.
Bseda was ordained a deacon at an early
age. He writes thus : " In the nineteenth
year of my age I received deacon's orders,
in the thirtieth those of the priesthood, both
of them under the ministry of the most
reverend Bishop John, and by order of the
Abbot Ceolfrid." 2
It seems nearly certain that Bseda never
wandered far from the congenial quiet of
his Northumbrian home.8 Of kindness
received from Wictred, King of Kent, he
makes record; he also refers to a visit
1 Hist. Ann. Abbat., Bsedse Opera, vi. 421.
2 Bseda,. Hist. Eccles., v. 24. The ecclesiastic referred
to was John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham.
8 For an account of Baeda's supposed journey to
Rome, see Lives of Eminent Anglo-Saxons, p. 165.

16 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
which he paid to Ecgberht, Archbishop of
York.1 Of Ceolwulf of Northumbria, a prince
of considerable learning, he was a favoured
guest; his " Ecclesiastical History" was com
posed at the request of that potentate, and
the manuscript was submitted to his review.
Subsequent to Bseda's death, Ceolwulf aban
doned the regal dignity, and sought retire
ment in the monastery of Lindisfarne.
Like missionaries of later times, Bseda
took part in outdoor labour. Of this side
of conventual life he has left us a picture
in describing the pious abbot who assisted
Benedict at Wearmouth. "Frequently as
he went forth," writes Bseda, " on the busi
ness of the monastery, if he found the
brethren working, he would join them and
work with them, taking the plough-handle
or wielding the fore-hammer, or winnowing
the grain."2
1 Bseda's Letters to Wictred and Ecgberht.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., Ann. Abbat., v. ; see also his
account of Abbot Easterwine, who exchanged the court
of King Ecgfrith for a monastic cell.

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 17
Outside the walls of Jarrow stirring
events were taking place. War ravaged
the land, and the Northumbrian dynasty
tottered to its fall. Bseda's cell was undis
turbed by the storm that raged without.1
Hymns, homilies, Scriptural commentaries,
lives of the saints, and disquisitions on
grammar and chronology flowed from his
busy pen. " My own secretary," he records,
" I make my own notes, and am my own
librarian." Not confined to the duties of the
desk, he was a diligent teacher. Attracted by
his learning, a school of monks was estab
lished at Jarrow. Having composed his
" Life of St Cuthberht," 2 he dedicated the
1 About a year before his death, Bseda, in a letter to
Archbishop Ecgberht of York, proposed a vigorous and
statesmanlike plan of reform ; but it came too late.
2 An excellent translation of Bseda's Life of St Cuth
berht will be found in the Historical Tracts of Venerable I
Bseda, edited by the Rev. A. Giles, D.C.L. Bseda wrote ]
two biographies of St Cuthberht, one in prose, the other
in verse. Of his metrical narrative, which is composed
in vigorous hexameters, the following is a specimen :
" Multa suis Dominus fulgescere lumina seclis
Donavit, tetricas humanae noctis ut umbras
B

18 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
work to Bishop Eadfrid. He was careful
about his authorities. In his preface he men
tions how he had frequently submitted the
manuscript to Herefrid the Priest, and to
others who were personally familiar with
the subject of it.
Baeda's " Ecclesiastical History," the
greatest monument of his genius, was com
posed in the true spirit of historical inquiry.
Drawn from various sources, not the least
interesting portion is that bearing on con
temporaneous events. It was completed
.just three years before the author's decease.
Bseda's end was near ; x incessant toil had
begun to affect his strength. About Easter
(f%&) a severe attack of asthma, attended
with great debility, interrupted his course of
Lustraret divina poli de culmine flamma ;
Et licet ipse deo natus de lumine Christus
Lux sit summa, Deus sanctos quoque jure hicernse
Ecelesise rutilare dedit, quibus igne magistro
Sensibus instet amor, sermonibus aestuat ardor
Multifidos varium lychnos qui'sparsit in orbem;
Ut cunctum nova lux fidei face fusa sub axem
Omnia sidereis virtutibus arva repleret. "
1 For an account of Bseda's last days, see Cuthberht's
letter to Cuthwine.

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 19
study. Nevertheless he laboured on, evin
cing the same cheerful humour which dis
tinguished him alike in sickness and in
health. His infirmities increased. Night
brought no refreshing slumber ; and in the
weariness of prostration he was heard to
repeat the great apostle's words, "It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God." More frequently were on his
lips the verses of an English song.
" Before the journey that we all must go
There is no man, though thoughtful ever so,
That can discover, ere he pass the gates,
"What doom, or good or evil him awaits." 1
To the reading and singing of his pupils
he listened eagerly. "By turns," writes his
biographer, " we read, and by turns we wept ;
nay, we wept always whilst we read. In
such joy we passed the days of Lent, and
he rejoiced much, and gave God thanks,
because he had been thought worthy to
be so weakened." Among the antiphones
1 Professor W. J. Hale's translation — Conversion of
the West— The English, by the Rev. Dr Maclear, p. 150.

20 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
chanted for his comfort was the one for
Ascension Day.1 At the touching words,
"Leave us not orphans," the pupils and
their master wept together. The torch of
life still flickered feebly, and the dying man
lingered wishful only to finish his translation
of St John's Gospel. On the Tuesday
before Ascension Day an increased difficulty
in breathing showed that the end was near.
Dictating to his amanuensis, he referred to
his waning energy. • Another morning found
him still alive, with only a single chapter
wanting to complete his task. "Dearest
master," said the scribe, "there lacks but
one chapter ; yet it will but trouble thee to
put more questions." " It is easily done,"
was the reply ; " take thy pen, make ready,
1 In the Sarum Breviary this antiphon was used at
the vesper service for Ascension Day. With a slight
alteration it is still retained in the liturgy of the Church
of England, and forms a portion of the service for the
Sunday after Ascension. The word " orphans " of the
original, which had such a touching significance to the
pupils of the dying Bseda, is in the modern version
rendered " comfortless."

THE BIOGRAPHERS OF CUTHBERHT. 21
and write fast." At noon his fellow-priests
of the monastery were summoned, and on
each he bestowed some small gift as a
memorial. The shadows were deepening,
and the hour of even-song was drawing
nigh, when the last sentence was penned.
" The verse is now finished, master," said
the scribe. "Truly hast thou said, it is
finished," responded the master. "Take
now my head between thy hands, and place
me opposite the spot where I was wont to
pray, that I may call upon the Father."
Stretched on the pavement of his cell, he
chanted the doxology, "Glory to the Father,"
and as the last note ceased, his spirit passed
away. "The lamp of learning," writes Surtees,
" trimmed by the hand of a simple monastic
who never passed the limits of his North
umbrian province, irradiated from the cell
of Jarrow the Saxon realm of England
with a clear and steady light; and, when
Bseda died, History reversed her torch, and
quenched it in deep night."

CHAPTEE II.
THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT — AIDAN.
' ' Servants of God ! or sons
Shall I not call you ? because
Not as servants ye knew
Your Father's innermost mind,
His, who unwillingly sees
One of His little ones lost —
Yours is the praise, if mankind
Hath not as yet in its march
Fainted, and fallen, and died ! "
— M. Arnold.
BOUT a mile and a half distant from
the Northumbrian coast, but con
nected with the mainland by a nar
row isthmus, is the island of Lindisfarne,
interesting to the student of history from
its association with the names of Aidan and
Cuthberht. The date of Aidan's birth has not been
recorded; a noble and even royal lineage
has been claimed for him. A native of

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 23
Ireland, he sprung from the regal stock of
Eochaidh Finn, of which St Brigid was a
collateral descendant.1 His name was borne
by several Irish and Dalriadic kings.2 He
appears first as a monk of lona.
In the year 634, the inmates of Hii, as
this Columban settlement was designated,
were assembled in solemn chapter to receive
a delegate from Oswald, King of North-
umbria. They were called on to make an
important decision. Desirous of fostering
religion and the arts of peace, Oswald, who
had lately recovered his sceptre, had invited
missionaries from lona to settle in his
dominions, assuring them of his protection.
For his request there was a special cause.
At lona the young prince, after the death
of his father Ethelfrith, had, with other
1 Dr Forbes' Kalendar of Scottish Saints, Edin., 1872,
4to, p. 269.
2 Forbes' Lives of StNinian and St Kentigern, Edin.,
1874, 8vo, p. lxxv. ; Reeves' Life of St Columba, Edin.,
1874, 8vo, pp. 254, 264, 287; Laing's Cronykel of Wyn-
town, Edin., 1879, 8vo, p. 324; Burton's Hist. Scot.,
i. 279.

24 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
members of the family, sought refuge from
the usurper Eadwin, receiving in the mon
astery shelter and hospitality. During
his residence he became a convert to the
Christian faith.1
These events happened in the year 617,
during the incumbency of Fergna, the fourth
abbot ; 2 but in the lapse of seventeen years
important changes' had occurred. Eadwin
had extended his sway northwards to the
Forth, while all the Saxon states south of
Northumbria, Kent excepted, had submitted
to his authority. In the train of his second
wife, Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelberht,
the Christian monarch of Kent, came Paul-
inus, a zealous partisan of the church at
Canterbury. Converted by the preaching
of this disciple of St Augustine, King Ead
win and his subjects publicly professed
the new faith ; and the bishopric of York,
in 627, was founded for Paulinus. Then
followed a golden age, when the land re-
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 1.
2 Skene's Celtic Scotland, ii. 153.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 25
joiced under the rule of a law-abiding, truth-
loving prince. But the happy period did
not endure long. In 633 Eadwin fell in
battle, defending his kingdom from the in
roads of Penda, the pagan King of Mercia.1
A period of anarchy followed. Abandoning
his see, Paulinus fled to the Kentish court
along with the widowed queen and her
daughter ; while James, " the deacon," was
alone left to conduct religious service.2
Uniting his forces with the wild hordes
of the Welsh king, Cadwallon, who, nomin
ally a Christian, exceeded in barbarity his
pagan ally, Penda ravaged the land with fire
and sword.3 In the words of Bseda, "no
longer might the cups of brass hang safely
by the roadside wells ; or a woman with
her babe traverse the kingdom of Eadwin
from sea to sea, without dread of insult."4
1 The locality of this conflict has been disputed ;
opinion being divided as to whether Heathfield, in
Derbyshire, or Hatfield-Chase, in Yorkshire, was the
scene of Eadwin's defeat.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., ii. 20.
3 Ibid., iii. 1. * Ibid., ii. 16.

26 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
To the terrors of invasion were added the
horrors of civil war. Northumbria was
split into the two provinces of Deira and
Bernicia ; of which the former fell to Osric,
Eadwin 's cousin; the latter to Eanfrith,
one of the exiled sons of Ethelfrith. Both
monarchs abandoned the Christian faith.
Shortly afterwards they were slain by
Cadwallon; and the path of succession to
Oswald was thus opened up.
Mustering his forces, Oswald marched to
attack the Welsh prince, who was encamped ,
near Hexham. According to Camden, the
two armies encountered at Dilston on an
affluent of the Tyne ; but later authors
have identified the scene of conflict with
St Oswald's, a village near the Eoman Wall.
The name of the engagement — Catscaul or
Cad-ys-gual — the battle at the wall — as given
by the old Cymric chroniclers, seems to
favour the latter view.1 Adamnan relates
that during the night before the battle St
Columba appeared in a vision to Oswald, and
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., i. 245.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 27
assured him of victory ; and that the king
told this story to Abbot Seghine.1 A rudely-
shaped wooden cross was planted in front of
Oswald's position at Hefenfield ; and, as
the morning mist rolled up the vale of the
Deniseburn, the king, with his host, knelt
in prayer round the symbol of their faith.2
The result of the conflict was decisive.
Cadwallon perished with the flower of his
army ; and the power of Oswald was estab
lished in Northumbria on a firm basis.3
Oswald now directed his thoughts to the
religious instruction of his people, and his
former relations with lona led him to solicit
from that community competent teachers.
Applying to Seghine, Abbot of Hii, he re
ceived from him a bishop named Corman.4
But Corman was not destined to be the
apostle of Northumbria. Of an austere
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., i. 245 ; iii. 157.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 2.
3 Turner's Hist, of the Anglo-Saxons, i. 359; Llywarch
Hen's Elegy on Cadwallon, i. 121; Owen's Llywarch,
pp. 111-117.
4 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 5.

28 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
disposition, his preaching was ineffectual,
and he quitted his post, disgusted with a
failure which he attributed to his flock.
As he denounced to the brethren the stub
born character of Oswald's subjects,1 Aidan,
a brother of the order, said, "Hast thou
not dealt too severely with thine unlearned
hearers, neglecting the apostle's advice to
feed first with the milk of the Word, and
afterwards with meat % " Appointed by the
brethren to renew the mission, and invested
with the episcopal office, Aidan sailed from
lona in the summer of 635.2
Oswald greeted the new bishop warmly,
and, at his request, transferred the seat of
his episcopate from York to Lindisfarne.
The island derived its name from a stream,
the Lindis, which entered the sea at a point
on the Northumbrian coast directly opposite,
and from the Celtic word fdhren — a recess,
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 5.
2 Lismore in Ireland, and Kingarth in Bute, two off
shoots from the parent establishment at lona, were ruled
by bishops, and from one of these probably Aidan received
consecration (Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 157).

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 29
sufficiently indicative of its wild and se
cluded character. The natural strength of
the position probably guided Aidan in
choosing the Holy Isle as his residence.
Connected with the mainland by a strip of
dry sand, the peninsula was, twice a day,
by the flow of the tide, converted into an
island;1 thus defying attack by an enemy
unprovided with boats. Moreover, the royal
fortress of Bamborough2 was distant only
an hour's sail.
In the south-western angle of the island
Aidan built his church, a simple structure
of oaken beams thatched with a species of
long coarse grass, which there grows plenti
fully. Several brethren from lona came as
1 " For, with the flow and ebb, its style
Varies from continent to isle ;
Dry-shod, o'er sands, twice every day,
The pilgrim to his shrine finds way ;
Twice every day the waves efface,
Of staves and sandalled feet, the trace."
— Scott, Marmion, c. ii. 9.
2 Bamborough was originally called Bebbanburgh,
after Bebba, the wife of its founder, Ida.

30 ) CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.

his companions ; 1 these gave instruction in a
school founded for twelve boys. Of Aidan 's
pupils three, Eata, Wilfrith, and Ceadda,
became subsequently famous.2
In conducting the duties of his episcopate
Aidan was independent both of Canterbury
and of Eome. With doctrinal controversies
he had no concern. To him it was nothing,
that the Pope claimed the right of appoint
ing an English archbishop to exercise su
preme authority over other bishops.3 Yet
Eome, in recognising him as a missionary
bishop, rendered justice to his self-sacrificing
and zealous labours.
To those who courted retirement and
loved contemplation, Lindisfarne, like the
sea-girt lona, offered an inviting retreat. But
the lives of Aidan and his colleagues were
not passed in seclusion. It was only by
unremitting toil they could hope to sow the
good seed; and to their self-imposed task
they applied themselves with unwearied dili-
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 3.
2 Ibid., iii. 26.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 31

o

gence. Hunger, cold, poverty, vicissitudes
of every sort were familiar to them. Their
journeys were performed on foot ; their fare
was meagre; their garb humble. Though
often the honoured guests of kings they re
mained men of lowly hearts and simple habits.
In the pages of Bseda and other contemporary
chroniclers, the "golden deeds" of Aidan
and his successors are lovingly recorded.
Aidan laboured for sixteen-years (from
634 to 651) among the sturdy race of dales
men, fishermen, and miners, who formed the
population of Northumbria. From the
Humber to the Forth he traversed the land
on foot, teaching from house to house. On
these journeys he was frequently accom
panied by King Oswald, who, from Aidan's
ignorance of the northern dialect, acted
as interpreter. x Favoured with the royal
countenance, his preaching was successful.
Christian doctrines were everywhere ac
cepted; churches were built, monasteries
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 3 ; Laing's Wyntoun, 1879,
iii. 325.

32 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
endowed. In his "Ecclesiastical History"
Bseda has eloquently delineated the character
of this missionary bishop. Peace-loving
and charitable, he despised pomp, and was
superior to avarice. Eebuking the proud
with priestly authority he comforted the
afflicted with Christian tenderness. In him
the poor found a protector, one ready to
plead their cause and relieve their wants.
On the vexed question of Easter observance
Bseda notes as a fault, that the practice of
Aidan, as of all Scotic ecclesiastics, was at
variance with that of Eome. Controversy
on this subject raged keenly. The disciples
of Columba were charged with error in
celebrating the Christian festival on the
full-moon of the Jewish passover. Eespect-
ing Aidan, however, Bseda explains that he
held his Easter celebration on the first
Sunday after the full moon : he further
exonerates him on the ground of his remote
ness from civilisation and consequent igno
rance of canonical law.1
1 Burton, Hist. Scot., i. 267, et seq.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 33
" Yet," adds the candid historian, " this I
approve in him that in the celebration of
Easter the object which he had in view in
all he said, did, or preached, was the same
as ours, that is, the redemption of mankind
through the passion, resurrection, and ascen
sion into heaven of the man Jesus Christ."1
A cultured scholar, reared in the school of
Augustine, Bseda might differ polemically
from the Celtic bishop ; nevertheless, in the
latter he recognised a kindred spirit, which
rejoiced to promote the spread of the Gospel
and the welfare of humanity.
A diligent student of Holy Scripture,
Aidan encouraged others to search the
Divine word. On his missionary journeys
he prescribed to his attendants certain
portions of the Psalter to be committed to
memory. When invited to the royal table
he brought with him as guests one or two
of his clergy. Illustrative of his relations
with King Oswald there are many legends.
One Easter Sunday Oswald was feasting
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 17.
c

34 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
with his nobles, and Aidan sat at his right
hand. A silver dish heaped with choice
food had been placed before the king, when
the royal almoner approaching reported- that
a number of poor people were sitting out
side the palace gates begging. Oswald at
once handed the costly dish, its contents
untasted, to the thegn bidding him distribute
the viands among the poor, and then break
the vessel in pieces for their behoof. Aidan,
approving the act, blessed the king's " white
hand," exclaiming, "May it never grow
old."1 Temperate at table, Aidan was in all his
habits simple and unaffected. The gifts of
wealthy admirers he bestowed in alms, and
for the manumission of slaves he laboured
earnestly. Of those who were rescued from
serfdom some were trained in his school,
and ordained as priests.2 The conversion of
Northumbria made slow progress, though
fresh relays of Celtic missionaries were
despatched from lona. But ere the final
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 6, 2 Ibid., iii. 5.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 35
victory over heathendom was won the land
had to pass through a fiery baptism.
Wessex had early succumbed to Oswald ;
and its ruler, having embraced the Chris
tian faith, was in 635 baptized by Birinus,
a Benedictine monk, who established a see
at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire. In East
Anglia about the same period Felix was
preaching. The success of these mission
aries awakened the apprehensions of Penda,
King of Mercia, who probably dreaded a
coalition, and in 642 his cruel hordes were
again let loose upon the land. Convening
his people, Oswald marched to the relief of
his allies. On this occasion victory did not
rest on the side of the cross. The autumn
of 642 beheld the disaster of Hatfield-Chase
repeated at Maserfield, and Penda again
triumphed.1 The precise locality of the
battlefield is unknown. Makerfield, near
Warrington, and Mirfield, in Yorkshire, have
been suggested; but it is now generally
agreed that it was in the neighbourhood of
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 9.

36 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Oswestry (Oswald's tree), in Shropshire, that
the pagan and Christian hosts met on the
fatal 5th of August. Oswald fell, uttering
with his last breath a prayer for his faithful
subjects. By order of his brutal victor, his
body was dismembered, and his head, arms,
and hands exposed on stakes. In the
following year, when the wave of conquest
had ebbed, the sad relics were piously col
lected and conveyed to Northumbria. The
head, delivered to Aidan, was by him in
terred at Lindisfarne, while the feet and
hands were deposited in St Peter's Church
at Bamborough.1
Thus, in the flower of his age, perished
King Oswald. His fervent piety and gene
rous temper endeared him to his people.
By the Church he was canonised. Tradi
tion affirms that when the other portions
of his body had decayed, the generous hand
of the Northumbrian hero remained un
corrupted.2 With the death of Oswald the kingdom
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 9. 2 Ibid., pp. 9-13.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 37
of Northumbria fell to pieces. His brother
Oswin succeeded to the sovereignty of
Bernicia, and married Eanfleda, a daughter
of King Edwin. Over Deira ruled Oswine,
son of Osric and cousin of Eadwin, whose
courtesy and affable disposition soon won
the hearts of his subjects, and attracted
strangers to his service.1
Northumbria continued to offer desperate
resistance to the inroads of Penda. Year
by year the Mercian king pushed his con
quests further north. Once he encamped
before the citadel of Bamborough. But
the impregnable rock defied his efforts, and
as a last resource he sought to destroy the
stronghold by fire. By his directions a quan
tity of combustibles — beams and rafters,
wattle and thatch, the spoil of the ruined
hamlets in the vicinity — was piled in a huge
semicircle round the walls, and fire applied.
Thick clouds of smoke and flame rolled
upwards, obscuring the sky. In his island
home at Lindisfarne Aidan beheld the con-
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 14.

38 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
flagration, which, fanned by a seaward
breeze, threatened to envelop the fortress
and the wooden buildings of the city in a
common doom, Eaising his clasped hands
in an agony of supplication, he ejaculated,
" See, Lord, what great harm Penda is
doing." Suddenly the wind veered, and,
blowing from the opposite quarter, beat
back the flames on those who were feeding
them. Bamborough was saved ! and the
heathen host withdrew from assailing a
stronghold which seemed to be divinely
protected.1 To Oswine Bishop Aidan proved a true
friend and judicious counsellor ; and the
young king bestowed on him many tokens
of regard. A story is related, which would
seem to show that the king's good-nature
was occasionally severely tried. A beggar
having asked alms of Aidan, the bishop with
impulsive generosity gave him a horse which
he had recently received as a gift from the
king. Vexed with the slight put upon his
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 16.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 39
favour, Oswine remonstrated. With Celtic
quickness Aidan rejoined, "Is the horse
more to thee, 0 Oswine, than a son of
God ? " The implied reproof sank into the
king's sensitive heart, and he entreated for
giveness. " Never again," he exclaimed,
" shall I judge how much or how little thou
should'st bestow on the poor ! " Touched
by this proof of Oswine's humility, Aidan
turned to a Celtic priest who accompanied
him, and prophesied that so good and meek
a king would not long survive.1
The sequel proved the truth of the bishop's
utterance. The latent jealousy which had
always existed between the kings of Bernicia
and Deira revived, and at last they came to
an open rupture. But Oswine, discovering
that the forces of his rival were numerically
superior, relinquished the intended contest ;
and disbanding his army at Wilfaresdun,
near Catterick, sought refuge with Earl
Hunwald. Proving faithless, the earl be
trayed the fugitive king, with the thegn
Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 14.

40 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Tondhere, his sole attendant, into the
enemy's hands. By his rival's command
the royal fugitive and his servant were put
to death; but the deed left on Oswine's
name a stain which his subsequent victories
could not efface. Bseda has recorded his
repentance, and at the request of his gentle
consort, Oswine subsequently granted to
Trumhere, a Northumbrian priest, and re
lative of the murdered king, a portion of
land near the scene of the crime, on which
a monastery was built.1
For Oswiu Aidan obtained in marriage
the daughter of Eadwin ; 2 and he induced
the famous Hild to settle in his dominions,
within the diocese of Lindisfarne.3 The
convent over which she ruled as abbess
was established at Heruten,4 near the
1 Oswine was succeeded by his son Adelwald, on whose
death, in 655, were united under one sceptre the twin-
kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 15, 21.
3 Ibid., iii. 24 ; iv. 23.
4 Hart Island. The convent cemetery was discovered
in 1833, its site having been covered by a field.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 41
mouth of the Tees, on the site of the
modern town of Hartlepool. But the
assassination of his royal friend and patron
was Aidan's death-blow; he did not long
survive the tragedy. Twelve days he ling
ered, mourning for the murdered prince,
whom he had loved as a son ; and then
death released him. He expired at Bam
borough on the last day of August 651. 2
His last illness attacked him with such a
sudden severity that it was found impossible
to remove him to his chamber ; a tent was
thereupon erected over him as he lay u^on
the ground. A post at the western end of
Bamborough Church, on which the dying
bishop leaned his head, was preserved as a
sacred relic ; it twice escaped destruction
when the remainder of the edifice was
burned. In Scotland the memory of St Aidan
was revered, and churches were dedicated
to him at Cambusnethan and Menmuir;
several wells, also supposed to exercise
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 17.

42 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
healing virtues, bore his name.1 By his
successor Finian, a chapel was erected at
Lindisfarne, which was afterwards substan
tially repaired by Archbishop Theodore.2
Bishop Aidan's life was one of unceasing
toil, for it was by sheer personal labour
that he promoted Christianity in Northum
bria. The root planted by him sprung up
and flourished till it overshadowed the
whole land. Bseda has dwelt on his un
selfish spirit and missionary zeal, yet he
was not singular in possessing these virtues,
for, they were common to all missionaries of
the Columban Church. " I see them com
ing ! " says an eloquent writer, " not count
ing their lives dear unto themselves, clad in
the armour of purity and innocence, to con
tend with strong seas and barren shores.
I see them coming ! the leader
and his twelve undaunted associates and
disciples ! Happy number ! like those of
old who, by the power of the weakness of
1 Forbes' Kalendar of Scottish Saints, p. 269.
2 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 25.

THE PREDECESSOR OF CUTHBERHT. 43
God, trampled upon strength, and under
the ignominious sign of the cross conquered
the honourable world. They approach the
shore; they land; the meek have taken
possession of the unknown rock upon which
their sandals tread. The cross, emblem of
self-denial, agony, and shame, carries the
armour of an invisible panoply. Onward
advances the sacerdotal host. The isles
obey; kingdoms are conquered; their word
has gone out into all lands." 2 In this spirit
Aidan and his successors went forth to
preach ; in this spirit they toiled ; in this
spirit they triumphed !
1 Dr Gordon's Monasticon, i. 575.

CHAPTEE III.
THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT — IRISH LEGENDS.
" And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud
Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light,
Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd
Into the realm of mystery and night —
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this ;
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss. "
— Longfellow.
jlnlnpHE lamp of Christianity kindled in
Aidan's rude cell was not extin
guished when he ceased to live.
His successors in Lindisfarne, Finian and
Colman, maintained the struggle against
paganism ; and the churches raised by
his disciples continued to flourish. Some
where between the years 634 and 651, the
monasteries of Melrose and Coldingham,
offshoots of the parent church at Lindis
farne, sprang into existence. The latter,

THE BO YHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 45
situated on the coast of Berwick, was, like
Heruten, an establishment both for monks
and nuns ; it was ruled by its foundress
Ebba, a sister of King Oswald. Over
Melrose in 651, the year of Aidan's death,
presided Eata, one of his twelve disciples.
But far away in Scotland a. greater than
Wilfrith or Eata was even then standing
on the threshold of a glorious career, and
preparing, though unconsciously to himself,
to take up the great work of evangelisation
where Aidan had laid it down. As the
pious bishop passed from earth, his mantle
descended, not on abbot or neophyte trained
in the school of Lindisfarne, but on a
humble shepherd, tending his flocks among
the wild recesses of Lammermoor.
Legend and romance have so beclouded
the early history of the British Church, that
it is most difficult to distinguish between
fact and fiction in the lives of ancient
missionaries. To this remark the biography
of the patron saint of Durham proves an
exception. Bseda and the anonymous monk

46 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
of Holy Isle have preserved the actual
details of his career. But these details,
valuable as they are, do not furnish com
plete information. On the subject of Cuth
berht's parentage Ba?da is silent, commenc
ing his prose memoir of the saint with an
anecdote relating to an occurrence which
took place when Cuthberht was about
eight years old. To supply the omission, a
mass of legends,1 more or less fabulous,
were latterly interwoven with the saint's2
history.
1 Li bell us de ortu S. Cuthberti de historiis Hybernen-
sium exceptus et translatus (Surtees, Soc. Publ., viii.
61-87). 2 In York Minster an ancient window is still shown,
emblazoned with paintings illustrative of the legends con
nected with St Cuthberht ; and the events and miracles
of his life were depicted in chronological order on the
windows of Durham Abbey, between the church door
and the cloisters. In the cathedral of Durham, formerly,
among other inscriptions beneath the figures of Bene
dictine monks, delineated on the screen of the -altar of St
Jerome and St Benedict, was the following : " Sanctus
Cuthbertus, patronus ecclesise, civitatis et Hbertatis Dunel-
mensis, natione Hibemicus, regiis parentibus ortus, nutu
Dei Angliam perductus, et apud Mailros monachus est

THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 47
According to these romances of the
twelfth century, Cuthberht was a native,
not of England or Scotland, but of Ireland ;
and the place of his nativity is fixed at
Kells, in county Meath. Eespecting the
Irish stories, Monsignor Eyre writes thus :
"The origin and value of the evidence
furnished in the Irish Life of St Cuthberht,
and quoted from it by other writers, is
discussed by the Bollandists, who have
shown it to be full of anachronisms. With
out rejecting it as fabulous, the author
would suggest that the mistake has arisen
from confounding the name of St Cuthberht
with that of St Columba, St Columba was
born of noble descent at Kells, in Meath,
where his house is still shown, and where
no tradition of any kind connected with St
Cuthberht is known to exist."1
According to the "Book of Nativity,"
effectus, deinde in ecclesiam Lindisf arnensem per abbatem
suum Eatam translatus,'7 etc. (see Bites of Durham,
pp. 65, 112).
1 Eyre's History of St Cuthberht, p. 4.

48 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Cuthberht was the son of Sabina, an Irish
princess, who, after the slaughter of her
relations, had fallen, as captive, to the share
of the King of Connatha.1 At the moment
of his birth a wonderful light filled the house,
which appeared to be wrapped in flames, yet
unconsumed. A bishop, named Ugenius,
who witnessed the miracle, baptized the
child, giving him the Irish name of Mulloc.
These events are alleged to have taken place
in the city of Hardbrecius.2 By Bishop
Ugenius the boy was virtuously reared, and
under his care learned to repeat the creed
contained in the "Confessions of St Pat
rick,"3 and the beautiful hymn attributed
to that saint. Fragments of this hymn,
recited by the Irish peasantry, are not un
worthy of quotation :

' I bind to myself to-day —
The strong power of the invocation of the Trinity,

1 Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 203. 2 Libell. de Ort., cap. xiv.
3 Todd's Life of St Patrick, p. 390; Maclear's Con
version of the West— The Celts, p. 90.

THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 49

The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the Elements. n.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that of
His Baptism ;
The power of the Crucifixion, with that of His Burial ;
The power of the Resurrection, with the Ascension ;
The power of the coming to the sentence of Judgment.
in.
'' I bind to myself to-day —
The power of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of Resurrection unto reward,
In the prayers of the noble Fathers,
In the predictions of the Prophets,
In the teaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the purity of holy virgins,
In the acts of righteous men. iv.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The power of Heaven,
The light of the Sun,
The whiteness of Snow,
The force of Fire,
The flashing of Lightning,
The velocity of Wind,
The depth of the Sea, D

50 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.

The stability of the Earth,
The hardness of Rocks. v.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The Power of God to guide me,
The Might of God to uphold me,
The Wisdom of God to teach me,
The Eye of God to watch over me,
The Ear of God to hear me,
The Word of God to give me speech,
The Hand of God to protect me,
The Way of God to prevent me,
The Shield of God to shelter me,
The Host of God to defend me, —
Against the snares of demons,
Against the temptations of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against every man who meditates injury to me, —
Whether far or near,
With few or with many.
VI.
" I have set around me all these powers —
Against every hostile savage power
Directed against my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and Druids,
Against all knowledge which binds the soul of man.

THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 51

VII.
" Christ, protect me to-day
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
VIII.
" Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ ori my right, Christ on my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot-seat,
Christ in the poop. IX.
" Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth qf every man who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
x.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The strong power of the invocation of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the Elements. XI.
" Domini est salus,
Domini est salus,
Christi est salus,
Snlus tua Domine sit semper nobiscum." '

See Todd's St Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland ; James

52 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
This metrical prayer was called a " lorica,"
because, as a coat of mail protects from
bodily hurt, its recitation was supposed to
shield from spiritual peril.
After the death of Ugenius, Mulloc, who
had previously been transferred to the care
of a pious nobleman,1 proceeded to Britain.
The reason of his departure was, that, though
a child in years, his wonder-working gifts
caused him to be regarded with dislike. The
manner of his voyage was miraculous. Em
barking with his mother, his guardian, and
two others, in a coracle hewn out of stone,
he set sail during the night,2 — a distorted
version evidently of another legend, which
relates how his body, in a stone coffin, floated
on the Tweed.3 At the moment of sailing,
Clarence Morgan's spirited translation in the Lyra
Hibernica Sacra; and Dr Petrie's Memoir of Tara,
1839. Tradition affirms that St Patrick recited the
above hymn when on his way to meet the Druidical
fire-worshippers at Tara.
1 Libell., cap. xv. 2 Ibid., cap. xix.
3 Window in York Minster, see Archseol. Journ. York,
iv. 281.

THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 53
his psalter fell into the sea, and was imme
diately swallowed by a great fish, which,
when the little company landed in safety
on the Galwegian coast, ejected the volume
uninjured.1 Arriving in Scotland, Mulloc proceeded to
Dunkeld, in the Pictish country, which, ac
cording to the narrative, was the seat of
Columba's episcopate. By Columba he was
welcomed, and educated along with an Irish
girl of royal extraction, named Bridgid.
Numerous legends cluster round his life at
Dunkeld. On one occasion some English
clerics, jealous of the favour bestowed on
the boy, killed a tame blackbird, a pet of
the bishop, in the expectation that the
blame would fall on Mulloc. But the bird's
restoration to life, in answer to Mulloc's
prayer, defeated the scheme.2
After a visit to lona, where he discovered
his two maternal uncles, he bade farewell to
1 Window in York Minster, see Archseol. Journ. York,
iv. 279.
2 Libell., cap. xxi.

54 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
his mother, who had undertaken a pilgrim
age to Eome, and proceeded to Lothian,
and there took up his residence near the
spot where the church of Childeschirche
was afterwards built, and dedicated to his
memory. This is identified with Channel-
kirk, a parish in the upper valley of the
river Leader. There the Irish legends leave
him.1 Extravagant and inaccurate as this ac
count of Cuthberht's youth unquestionably
is, it need not be rejected as wholly fabulous.
The error respecting Columba, who is repre
sented as alive about forty years subsequent
to his death, may have arisen in this way.
The Norse invasions rendered lona insecure
as the centre of the Columban Church;
while the growing importance of Kells, in
Ireland, overshadowed the parent establish
ment. When, therefore, the seat of civil
government was fixed by Kenneth Mac-
alpine at Dunkeld, the ecclesiastical see was
likewise removed to that city, and a second
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 204, 205.

THE BOYHOOD OF CUTHBERHT. 55

lona founded there, which was named in
honour of Columba.1
In connection with Cuthberht's residence
at Dunkeld other legends are narrated, which
evidently refer to. a later period of his life.
By Bseda, in the metrical history, he is dis
tinctly claimed as a native of Britain ; but /
his warm sympathies with the Celtic Church W
would seem to argue a Celtic origin.2 While,
therefore, we may not, like the Bollandists,3
pronounce the story of his boyhood to be
wholly fabulous, the question of his birth and
parentage will always remain undetermined.
1 Reeves' Life of St Columba, pp. Ixix. -lxxi. According
to Usher, the Columba of Dunkeld and tutor of St Cuth
berht was one personage (Hist. Eccles., Dunelm., p. 24);
but this statement has no foundation in fact, and was
probably framed to get rid of the anachronistic difficulty.
2 Montalembert in his Monks of the West, and Reeves
in his Notes on Wattenbach, pronounce for the Irish
extraction of Cuthberht ; Mabillon and Lanigan incline
to the opinion that he was a native of the Lothians.
8 Bolland, compiler of the Acta Sanctorum, was a
Jesuit priest, a native of Antwerp. He composed the
lives of the saints whose festivals fell in the months of
January, February, and March. After his death in 1665,
the work was continued by Papenbroeck and others, who,
being of the same school, are termed Bollandists.

CHAPTEE IV.
CUTHBERHT THE SHEPHERD.
: And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb,
When all in mist the world below was lost.
What dreadful pleasure ! there to stand sublime,
Like shipwrecked mariner on desert coast,
And view the enormous waste of vapour, tossed
In billows, lengthening to the horizon round,
Now scooped in gulfs, with mountains now embossed !
And hear the voice of mirth and song rebound,
Flocks, herds, and waterfalls along the hoar profound! "
— Beattie's Minstrel.
EfsTlS Saxon biographers agree in repre
senting Cuthberht as a native of the
Scottish Lowlands. The nameless
monk of Lindisfarne pictures the young
shepherd " watching the flocks of his master
in the mountains ; " x and several localities
in the rich pastoral vale where Leader and
Tweed mingle their waters claim the honour
of his birthplace. In some rude hut on the
1 Vita Anon. S. Cuthb.— Bseda, Oper. Min., p. 262.

CUTHBERHT THE SHEPHERD. 57
slopes of Earlston or on the southern skirts
of the Lammermoor Hills the apostle of the
Lothians was probably born, and his in
fancy passed among scenes which after
wards impressed the seer of Ercildoune
and awoke the genius of Scott. Modern
writers have associated his birth with the
village of Wrangholm, which lay along the
base of a hilly ridge nearly facing Smail-
holm Tower. Of this hamlet every vestige
has disappeared.
The story of Cuthberht's youth reads,
says Montalembert, "like that of a little
Anglo-Saxon of our own day." Wherever
laughter was rife, and frolic or sports
abounded, there would Cuthberht be found.
In boyish games he was the ring-leader,
and his mirth-loving sunny temperament
made him a favourite. Bseda relates that
he delighted to be in the company of other
boys, and to join in their diversions.
Having a vigorous and active frame, he
excelled his playmates in running, wrest
ling, jumping, and all bodily exercises. He

58 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
possessed also the thoroughly British quality
of pluck, never acknowledging defeat, or
abandoning a contest until the victory re
mained with him.
The story of his life, related by Bseda,
begins with his eighth year. At this period
he was committed to the care of a widow
named Kenspid, whom he called mother,
and treated with filial affection. Many
curious legends, not less extravagant than
those recorded by the Irish chroniclers, are
told of his boyhood. Thus Bseda, on the
authority of Bishop Trumwine, who claimed
to have received the anecdote from Cuth
berht's lips, narrates that as Cuthberht was
one day playing with his companions, one
of them burst into tears, exclaiming, " Why
do you, Cuthberht, whom God has set apart
to be a priest and bishop, waste your time
in idle sport?" The words made a deep
impression on Cuthberht, and from that
day he began to exhibit a gravity of de
meanour beyond his years.1 When afflicted
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., cap. i. ; Vit. Anon. Cuthb., i. 4.

CUTHBERHT THE SHEPHERD. 59
with a disease of the knee-joint, which, con
tracting the sinews, threatened to render
him lame, he was cured by a passing tra
veller. The prescription — a poultice of flour
boiled in milk — was efficacious ; and the sick
youth entertained the belief that in the
stranger "clothed in white garments, and
honourable to look upon," and mounted
on " a steed . of incomparable beauty," he
had beheld an angel sent to his relief.1
Another legend2 records his marvellous
power of prayer. "Towards the south,"
writes Bseda, "not far from the mouth of
the river Tyne, there is a monastery which
was inhabited by monks, but now by a
noble company of virgins dedicated to
Christ." From the description, Tyning-
ham is evidently referred to; and the
narrative proceeds to relate how some
monks had rowed up the river to pro
cure timber, when a sudden gale, blowing
violently from the west, drove their boat
down stream into the open sea. There the
1 Boeda, Vit. Cuthb., cap. ii. 2 Ibid., cap. iii.

60 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
frail craft was tossed in the heavy surf "like
a sea-bird on the wave," and destruction
seemed imminent. From the shore the
brethren of the monastery and a number
of peasants from the adjoining hamlet
watched the spectacle, unable to render as
sistance or avert a catastrophe. No feel
ing of compassion moved the semi-heathen
rustics. " They have banished our ancient
rites and customs," they exclaimed ; " no
one shall pray for them ; may none be
spared ! " Then Cuthberht, who was pre
sent, knelt down, and as he prayed the
tempest was lulled and the boat safely
reached the shore.
In becoming a shepherd Cuthberht pro
bably followed the family vocation. In the
extensive pasturages which, as folk-lands or
commons, were left to their use, the shep
herds made their homes, living in the open
air day and night. We can fancy the young
apostle watching his flocks by day on the
green slopes above the Leader, and, on the
Eildon Hills, folding them at nightfall. In

CUTHBERHT THE SHEPHERD. 61
his early wanderings he became familiar
with a region which, as a missionary, he
was afterwards to traverse. No marvel
that, roaming over the solitary moors and
through the wild forests which then covered
the land, strange fancies occupied his brain,
and that marvellous dreams disturbed his
slumber. It is in connection with his shep
herd life that we grasp the first tangible
date in his career. The sunset had faded
into twilight, and the twilight deepened into
night, on the last day of August 651. Dark
ness, like a pall, swathed the hill-side, and,
wearied with their toils, the shepherds slept
peacefully. Cuthberht kept vigil alone,
when a vision passed before his eyes. A
beam of dazzling radiance shone suddenly
out of the black night, and in its midst
appeared a throng of angels bearing, as in a
globe of fire, a soul to heaven.1 - Eousing his
companions he explained what he had seen,
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., cap. iv. ; Simon Dunelm. de
Eccles. Dunelm., cap. iii. ; Vita Cuthb. — Bseda, Op.
Min., p. 262.

62 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
adding that in his opinion it betokened the
death of a great saint or bishop. Next
morning he learned that Aidan had died at
Bamborough at the time of his vision.
In the deep impression which it produced,
this event was the turning point of Cuth
berht's life ; he considered that he had been
specially called to enter into religion. To
him the shepherd-life had ceased ; the care
of his flocks was surrendered to another.
Although Lindisfarne was probably at no
great distance, and as a religious school
was already famous, being associated with
Aidan's ministry, Cuthberht turned his steps
to Melrose. In this choice he may have
been influenced by the reputation of Boisil,
who was then prior,1 and as a native of the
district, he may have been familiar with
some of the inmates.2
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., cap. vi.
2 Respecting this incident there is some discrepancy
in the accounts given by the different biographers of
Cuthberht. The monk of Lindisfarne states that at the
time of the vision Cuthberht was tending his flocks " in
montibus juxta fluvium Leder" (cap. iii. 24); but we

CUTHBERHT THE SHEPHERD. 63
Aii incident, which is chronicled by Bseda,
occurred on his journey northward. Over
taken by night among the moors, he halted
at a shepherd's hut to seek shelter and
repose. It was Friday, and he was tired
and hungry, for, desirous of observing the
obligation of fasting, he had rejected the
hospitality offered to him during the day.
Having tied up his horse, and fed it with a
handful of dry grass, he proceeded to his
evening devotions. While he was praying,
his steed, nibbling at the thatch of the roof,
revealed a bundle wrapped up in a linen
cloth ; and Cuthberht, opening the pack
age, found therein some bread and meat, on
which he made a hearty repast.1
have preferred the authority of Bseda, who affirms that
the time of the vision was some days before Cuthberht's
entrance into Melrose.
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., cap. v.

CHAPTEE V.
CUTHBERHT THE MONK — LIFE IN A SCOTIC
MONASTERY — MELROSE AND RIPON.
" The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight ;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upwards in the night." — Longfellow.

3

i\EW Scottish abbeys are more famous
than Melrose ; and' the romance of
v» history which is interwoven with its
name has formed the theme of more than
one chronicler and poet. But we have not
now to do with that monastery which at a
later date was reared with all the architec
tural splendour characteristic of Norman
churches. The buildings of the Celtic
monks boasted neither carved roofs nor
pointed arches ; they were constructed of
timber, and thatched with wattle or moss.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 65
On the banks of the Tweed, distant
about a mile and a half from the foun
dation of David I., was built the abbey
of Old Melrose. The name, Mael-ros or
Mul-ross, signifying the "bare promon
tory," described its position. At the point
where it stood the river makes an abrupt
semi-circular sweep, in the form of a horse
shoe, round a narrow spot of land which,
projecting from the thick forest which
covered the country, presented an open
surface of green sward. On the peninsula
thus formed the monastery stood, while a
stone wall built across the narrowest part
gave protection from sudden attack. In
the centre of the enclosure, on a gentle
eminence, the monks reared their wooden
chapel, which communicated by an archway
with the adjoining sacristy.
The ground-plan of the monastery was
quadrangular; and besides the oratory,
various other detached buildings were scat
tered over its surface, among them the
abbot's house, the kitchen, the refectory,

66 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
and the cells set apart for the entertain
ment of strangers. Of a ruder description
were the wattle huts which served as the
cow-houses, granaries, and stables. In the
centre of the enclosure are still to be seen
the pond paved with flagstones, in which
fish were kept for the use of the monks'
table ; and the " Lady " well, shadowed by
an ash-tree, from which supplies of water
were drawn.
The scene, familiar to the eyes of Eata,
Boisil, and Cuthberht, has suffered little
change. The forest, less dense than of
yore, has receded from the river banks;
but still bold and abrupt rise the red and
white cliffs on the opposite shore, and still
the deep green waters of Tweed sweep with
musical murmur round the grassy holm.
When and by whom the abbey of Old
Melrose was founded is a question which
remains unsolved. Its existence was pro
bably due to the influence of Aidan. Eata,
who held office as abbot at the time when
Cuthberht joined the community, was one

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 67
of the twelve boys whom the Bishop of
Holy Isle "received to be instructed in
Christ." x Between the years 634 and 643
disciples of Aidan founded cells at Cold-
ingham, Tyningham, and perhaps also at
Abercorn; these maintained connection
with Lindisfarne.2
When, after several days of travel, Cuth
berht dismounted at the portal of Melrose,
he gave his horse and his spear to an atten
dant. Boisil, the prior, who was standing
near, remarked to Sigfrith, a brother monk,
" Behold a servant of the Lord ! " Eata,
the abbot, seems to have been absent, as
upon Boisil devolved the duty of welcom
ing the stranger. When Cuthberht had
explained his desire to embrace a monastic
life, the prior greeted him warmly. The
youth (for his age at this time could not
exceed sixteen years3) was hospitably en-
1 " Unus de xii pueris Aidani quos, primo episcopatus
sui tempore de natione Anglorum, erudiendos in Christo
accepit" (Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 26).
2 Chalmers' Caledonia, i. 325.
3 " Unfortunately Bede nowhere gives us Cudberct's

68 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
tertained for a few days, until the return
of Eata, by whom, on the recommendation
of Boisil, he was admitted into the brother
hood, having first renounced the secular life
and taken the monastic vow. He then
received the tonsure,1 and entered upon his
vocation. To the rules of the monastery Cuthberht
zealously conformed, observing even a
stricter discipline than his fellow-monks.
In study, in labour, in vigils, he excelled
them. His robust frame, strengthened by
the hardy life he had led as a shepherd,
enabled him to support the austerities and
age. He elsewhere calls him at this time a young man,
and says his life reached to old age. Cudberct resigned
his bishopric in 686 and died in 687. He could hardly
have been under sixty at that time, and it was probably
on his attaining that age that he withdrew from active
life. This would place his birth in the year 626, and
make him twenty-five when he joined the monastery
at Mailros" (Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 205).
1 The tonsure of the Columban monks was from ear
to ear — not coronal, as with Roman clerics. The fore
part of the head was left bare, the hair being permitted
to cover the back of the head only.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 69
privations which were demanded by mon
astic rule. He was extremely temperate,
avoiding stimulants. With respect to food
he was less abstemious, his body requiring
to be nourished, that he might be fit to
endure the manual labour which formed a
part of his daily occupation.
It may not be uninteresting to examine
the nature and duties of that life to which
Cuthberht had now devoted himself. As a
dependent cell of Lindisfarne, the monastery
of Melrose followed the discipline of the
parent establishment, and, like it, looked to
Hii for spiritual direction. The brethren
regarded themselves as Militia Christi, and
each member on enrolment became pledged
to abjure the vanities of the world. The
measure of obedience exacted from them
was clearly defined "even to death." At
the shortest notice they were ready to set
forth on long journeys, and to brave the
perils of flood and field, of wild beasts,
and still more savage men. At home they
were content to put their hand to any

V

70 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
labour that might be required of them.
Body and mind were both exercised — one
in outdoor toil, the other in diligent study.
They enjoyed goods in common. Personal
rights in property were disclaimed, accord
ing to Columba's rule : " Be naked, in imi
tation of Christ, and in obedience to the
precepts of the Gospel." Almsgiving was
especially commended ; but the disciples of
Columba exercised discrimination in select
ing their objects of charity, and while hos
pitality formed a marked feature in their
practice, itinerant begging was discouraged.
Celibacy was enforced, and humility stood
first in the rank of virtues.
The little society, or " family," was gov
erned by the abbot, who was called " pater,"
or " sanctus pater." With respect to Mel
rose and other affiliated churches, the abbot
was subject to the superior authority of
the Abbot of Hii, by whom he was conse
crated. Invested with supreme authority
in the convent, he could relax or intensify
discipline at will. According to ecclesias-

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 71
tical polity he ranked as a priest, being
styled presbyter. As such he officiated at
the altar, and pronounced absolution. All
matters relating to the daily life, labours,
and mission journeys of the monks were
referred to him; when absent his duties
devolved on a substitute appointed by him
self. Among the lesser officials are men
tioned the butler (pincerna) and baker
(pistor). The scribe does not appear before
the close of the seventh century; and to
his functions of transcribing the records and
rules of the monastery were afterwards
added the duties of teacher and lecturer.
The older monks were called " seniors ; "
those who, from bodily strength or previous
occupation, were fitted for outdoor labours
were termed " working brethren ; " the
younger members, who were receiving in
struction, were styled "juniors." At Hii
and at the other foundations strangers were
received, who, under the names of prose
lytes, penitents, and guests, sojourned for
indefinite periods, or dwelt in the vicinity.

72 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
The size of the monasteries varied consider
ably. The smaller were built to contain
150 inmates. This was the number of
monks in lona.
" Illustrious the soldiers who were in Hii,
Thrice fifty in monastic rule,
With their curachs across the sea,
And for rowing threescore men."
The larger establishments of St Asaph's in
Wales, and of Lismore and Clonard in Ire
land, contained respectively 965, 800, and
3000 monks.
As seats of instruction the monasteries
were most useful, for many young men
repaired to them to be taught. In some
monasteries fifty scholars were received,
and in others a larger number was accom
modated. In Ireland and Scotland these
scholars were regarded as inferior members
of the clerical order. Subsequently they
seem to have occupied the position of cot
tars simply, living in the immediate neigh
bourhood of, the monastery, upon lands
which were set aside especially for their

CUTHBERHT THE MONK.

support. They built their huts of turf and
branches of trees, and lived principally upon
grain or vegetables, which they cultivated
for themselves.1
The duties of the monastic brethren were
simple, consisting chiefly in preparing food
and in manufacturing such implements
or articles as were required for domestic
use or field labour. Farming on a large
scale, as afterwards practised by monks,
was impossible to the Columban clergy. It
is doubtful whether they were solely de
pendent on their own efforts, or were sup
ported by the contributions of their converts.
Probably they cultivated as much land as
yielded a return in grain or vegetables, and
reared sheep and cattle in sufficient numbers
to supply themselves with food. In the
community some could bake bread and brew
ale, and they obtained fish from the river
or fish-pool, which, with eggs and poultry,
formed the staple of their ordinary diet.
At the arrival of guests, fresh meat was
1 Book of Deer, p. cxxxix.

74 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
added — beef or mutton. The general prac
tice was to dine in the evening; but a
noonday repast was also permitted. In
this respect the rule of Columba was less
strict than that of Comgall, which guided
the Irish Church ; it resembled the Bene
dictine formula, by which dinner was
appointed for twelve o'clock, with supper in
the evening. On Wednesdays and Fridays
a strict fast was observed. Lent was kept
rigorously.1 Each brother of the monastery was clad
thus : An under garment, called a tunic, of
a white material, was worn next the skin,
and over this was drawn the cuculla or
cowl. This consisted of two parts, a hood
or cape, and a body or skirt. The cuculla
was generally made of undyed woollen stuff
of a coarse texture, and retaining its natural
colour. In cold weather or when travel
ling, a warmer garment — amphibalus — of the
nature of a cloak, was worn. Out of doors
and at work the brethren wore sandals;
1 Reeves' Adamnan, p. 351.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 75
these were taken off when they sat at meals.
They occupied separate cells, in which each
bed was provided with a mattress and
pillow; as they slept in their clothes
coverlets were unneeded.
Daily service was performed in the chapel,
to which the monks were summoned by a
bell — those only who were engaged in the
necessary duties being exempted from atten
dance. Sundays and Saints' days were dis
tinguished by three peculiarities — absolute
rest, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,
and diet of better quality. The Sabbath
was held to commence at sunset on the
preceding day, and its services, performed
at stated intervals, included the Vesper-
tinalis, Missa, Matutina, Prime, Tierce, Sext,
and probably also None. In celebrating
the Sacrament or Mystery of the Sacred
Oblation, as it was termed, bread and wine
and water, mixed in a chalice by the deacons,
was used. The priest, standing before the
altar, consecrated the elements. If several
priests were present, one was invited to

76 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
assist the officiating presbyter, and to break
bread with him in token of equality. But if
a bishop officiated, he broke bread alone, as
a sign of his superior rank. The brethren
then approached the altar and partook of
the Eucharist.
Easter was the principal festival, the
period between Easter-day and Whitsunday
being known as dies paschales. Then, in
dulgences were more especially permitted ;
Christmas was attended with similar privi
leges. Lent, on the other hand, was ob
served strictly as a period of fasting and
preparation for Easter-tide. Fasts were
also prescribed for every Wednesday and
Friday during the entire year.
When any infringement of discipline oc
curred, or any grave offence against the con
ventual regulations was committed, the guilty
monk, on declaring his penitence, and on his
knees promising amendment, was absolved
by the abbot. Penances were frequently en
joined, of which some were severe and rigid.1
1 Rev. R. W. Church's Life of St Anselm, p. 67,

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 77
In the training of every monk, the study
of the Scriptures, especially the Psalms,
formed an important part. Some slight
knowledge of Latin and Greek might be
acquired, sufficient for the transcription of
monastic rules or other documents, but
there is little evidence of scholarship or
culture among the Columban clerics. The
circumstances of their lives were unpropi-
tious to the cultivation of learnino\ and
in this respect they compare unfavourably
with churchmen of a later age.
Such is a brief outline of the life and
discipline which Cuthberht shared in the
monastery of Melrose. How far this mode
of life was beneficial to him, or profitable
to others, it is difficult to determine. As
pioneers of industry and art, the monks
were certainly useful. They practised the
healing art, though in a sufficiently rude
manner, and possessed and imparted a con
siderable knowledge of agriculture.
The principles on which they regulated
their lives were, in the main, excellent.

78 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Self-discipline and self-control were the chief
objects sought ; and to use the words of a
modern writer,1 " In an age when there was
so much lawlessness, . . . they upheld
and exhibited the great and then almost
original idea that men needed to rule and
govern themselves ; that they could do it,
and that no use of life was noble or perfect
without this ruling. . . . Eude as they
were, they were capable of nurturing noble
natures, single hearts, keen and powerful
intellects, glowing and unselfish affections."
The age was singularly superstitious, as
appears by the incredible legends recorded
by Bseda. The sign of the cross was used
to banish demons, and to avert pestilence,
and for such trivial purposes as to bless
a milk-pail, unlock a door, or to endow
a pebble on the beach with life-giving
powers. Their weaknesses were those of
their age, but the influence of their virtues
has long survived them, for, in the religious
earnestness of Scottish Lowlanders, may
1 See Introduction to Dr Reeves' Adamnan.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 79
even now be remarked the result of teaching
in the remote past by the wandering disciples
of lona and Lindisfarne.
In 651, the year of Aidan's death, Bishop
Aegelbyrht preached the Gospel to the West
Saxons. Two years later the conversion of
the Mercians was begun by Ceadda, better
known as St Chad, a pupil of Aidan and
Diuma,1 a Scotic priest sent by Oswin of
Northumbria. The efforts of these mission
aries aroused the ire of Penda, the aged
King of Mercia. The stubborn pagan was
not disposed to yield without a struggle,
and once more his armies, strengthened by
the hordes of his Welsh allies, were let loose
upon the northern kingdom. The flood of
invasion rolled steadily northward ; Deira
was subjugated, and the peasants of Bernicia
felt the wrath of the conqueror. ' Oswin at
length sought to purchase peace by the
1 According to Fordun, Diuma or Winna is identical
with the Finan or Finian, who in 651 succeeded Aidan
at Lindisfarne. He ruled till 660, when Colman was
despatched from Hii to be his successor.

80 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
sacrifice of his treasury ; but Penda sternly
refused terms, avowing his intention to
extirpate all who professed the Christian
faith. He drove the Northumbrian king
to the shore of the Forth, and took posses
sion of Giudi, an insular fortress.1 But
the fortune of war was changed. Eallying
his forces, Oswin by a nocturnal attack
routed his adversary. Penda and thirty
Welsh chieftains perished in the battle,
which, according to Bseda, took place at
the river Winwoed, that is, Avon in Lin
lithgowshire. The name Winwoed signifies
" battle-ford," and there near the village of
Manuel (the Manau of the continuator of
Nennius, who has also described the con
flict), is a spot known as the " Fighting-
ford." By some writers Winmoor, near
Leeds, has' been assigned as the locality of
the battle ; but this is improbable, as nearly
1 Basda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 24. The fortress of Giudi
was built on an island in the middle of the Firth of Forth,
which may perhaps be identified with Inchkeith (Skene's
Celt. Scot., ii. 258, note).

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 81
all the authorities are agreed that it was
fought in the level country near the shore
of the Forth.1
The victory of Winwoed changed the
aspect of affairs. Oswin recovered his king
dom; and with Penda's death systematic
opposition to the spread of Christianity
ceased. Peada, succeeding his father in
Mercia, was converted and baptized by
Diuma, who, in the following year, became
first bishop of the Mercians. In fulfilment
of a vow made before the battle of Winwoed,
Oswin, in 656, founded and endowed, at
Whitby, a nunnery, which was assigned to
Hild. As .abbess she was, in 680, succeeded
by Elfleda, daughter of the founder. Oswin
and Peada became firm allies, and in concert
reared the Church of St Peter at Medeham-
stede, afterwards known as Peterborough.2
On the death of Adelwald of Deira,
Oswin united that province with Bernicia,
and thus became sole ruler of Northumbria.
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., i. 256.
2 Ann. of Engl., pp. 32, 33.
F

82 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
His sway was, in its power and extent, almost
imperial. He not only, writes Bseda, " held
nearly the same dominions as his prede
cessors," but he "subdued and made tri
butary the greater part of the nation of the
Picts and Scots, who possessed the north
ern part of Britain."1 Since the days of
Eadwin no such glory had been reflected
on the Northumbrian crown. The Britons
of Strathclyde, and the Dalriadic Scots, were
both under Oswin's rule; over southern
Scotland his sceptre was supreme.
The pacification which followed the vic
tory of Winwoed opened a way for mission
work in Galloway and other parts of Scot
land. In this way Cuthberht may have
penetrated to the remote districts beyond
the Forth ; and his experience in Pictland,
detailed in the chapter appended to the
Irish biography, may, if not wholly fictitious,
be referred to this period. On a hill near
Doil (which Skene identifies with Dull, in
Athole z), he established a hermitage. His
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., ii 5. 2 Celt. Scot., ii. 206, 207.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 83
reputation for sanctity was supported by
several miracles. At the Eock of Weem,
about a mile from Dull, a spring is shown,
which, according to the Irish chroniclers,
flowed from the cliff at his command.
Falsely charged with an illicit amour, Cuth
berht abandoned the district and returned
to the Lothians.
Alchfrith, son of Oswin, who, as King of
Deira, was associated in the government
with his father, bestowed on the Abbot of
Melrose a portion of land on which to rear
a monastery. This was in the year 660.
The spot selected was Eipon ; variously
styled by Bseda "Inrhipum" or "In Wry-
pum " — probably a corruption of the Latin
words in ripam, descriptive of its position.
The abbey was built on an eminence near
the confluence of the rivers Ure and Skell.
To this monastery, in 661, came, from Mel
rose, Eata and Cuthberht. The latter was
appointed hospitaller. His duties were to
provide strangers with food and lodging.
Each guest, on arriving, was received by

84 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Cuthberht, and introduced by him to the
abbot, who bestowed a kiss as an assurance
of welcome. The visitor was then con
ducted to the oratory, and, after prayers,
was lighted to the cell prepared for him.
After having washed, he was provided with
refreshment in the refectory. If the stran
ger arrived on an ordinary fast-day, the
strict observance was, in his favour, dis
pensed with.
A legend is related in connection with
Cuthberht's duties as hospitaller. Entering
one winter morning into the guest's chamber,
he found a stranger already there. Cuth
berht fetched water and washed the stran
ger's hands and feet, and proffered refresh
ment, which was declined on the plea that
he could not tarry, " as the home to which
he was hastening lay at some distance."
duthberht renewed his offer, and left the
apartment to procure food. On his return
he found the cell empty, while the fresh-
fallen snow showed no trace of footsteps to
reveal the way by which the stranger had

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 85
departed. But on the table were three
newly-baked wheaten loaves of unusual
whiteness and excellence, a miraculous
thank-offering which convinced Cuthberht
that, unawares, he had been entertaining
an angel.1 Many a weary traveller benefited
by the hospitality of the monks of Eipon.
Among the peasants of Deira the benign
influence of their teaching was felt ; and on
the banks of the Ure2 was chanted the
hymn of Columba, which Aidan had brought
with him from lona, and taught to his
pupils at Lindisfarne.
" The Father exalted ; ancient of days, unbegotten
Without or beginning or origixi : ever existing
Is and shall be : to infinite ages of ages.
With whom is Christ, sole begotten ; with whom, too,
the Spirit

1 No. 7 of the panels in the Cathedral of Carlisle
portrays this incident.
2 This hymn, called the Alius Prosator, is found in the
Liber Hymnorum. The excellent version given in the
Lyra Hibernica Sacra is here appended, with a few
alterations by the editor, Dr Todd.

86 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Co-eternal in Glory, in Godhead alike everlasting.
We preach not three Gods : one God we proclaim and
one only —
Sowing our faith in Three Persons : eternally glorious.
" Creator is He of blest Angels; Archangels and Orders,
Principalities, Thrones ; of powers and also of virtues
Lest goodness and majesty lodged in, the Trinity
might be inactive.
Boundless in functions of might, and in beauteousness
endless
Thus manifesting itself; employed in proclaiming
Graces celestial and vast ; in boundless expression.
" Down from the summit of Heaven ; of order angelic,
Down from effulgence of brightness ; from loveliness
peerless,
Fell Lucifer, whom God had made, pride proving his
downfall,
And with him the angels apostate, in like ruin mingled,
He of vain-glory the author ; of obstinate envy ;
Though steadfast remaining the rest ; in dominion
celestial. •
" The Dragon most potent and foul: terrific and ancient,
Serpent of slimy deceit ; excelling in wisdom
Every beast of the earth ; of force full and fierceness
He with himself downward drew of bright stars the
third part
Into the regions infernal ; and dark prisons diverse
Erring deserters of light ; headlong cast by the traitor.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 87
" In foresight deep the Most High ; had poised the
harmonious structure.
The heavens above the earth ; had founded the sea
and the waters
Also the up-springing grasses, the shrubs, with their
twining tendrils ;
The sun the moon and the stars ; the fire, and all
things needful ;
Birds with fishes, and cattle ; beasts, and all living
creatures.
Last He created primal man : ruler of all around him.
" The stars that heightened the ether ; made all by one
act of Godhead —
Structure amazingly great — united with angels in
praising
The Lord of the mass immense ; Architect great of
the heavens,
Glorious their worship and meet : their praise ever
lasting
All these, with noble consent, thanks to their Maker
rendered
In free and heaven-taught love ; not from endowment
of nature.
" Both our first parents thus, tempted, assailed, and taken
The devil a second time falls; with his satellites
banded
Horror their aspect filled; woful the sound of their
flight
Well may frail man, too, fear, well may he sink in
dismav,

88 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Unable, with bodily vision ; to look on such terrible
things
There are the fallen ones bound ; tied in their prison
house fearful.
" He, too, their chief, in the midst, thus by the Lord is
cast down,
While the wide space of the air, darkly and densely
is filled
With the tumultuous crowd ; satellites set in rebellion
Hid from man's sight lest he, pursue their example
and crimes ;
Neither encompassing wall nor screen, their iniquity
hiding
While to all is proclaimed their sin ; even the soul's
fornication.
" Up from the wintry floods, the clouds their moisture
carry,
Up from the threefold depths of the sea, from ocean
regions,
To the climates of heaven above ; in azure whirlwinds
Destined to render fruitful, crops and vineyards and
orchards
Driven along by the winds ; issuing forth from then-
treasures
Erupting still in their turns, the pools of the ocean.
" The tottering glory of tyrants ; the passing and present
Mightiest kings of the world, set aside by God's judg
ment.

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 89
So the just doom of the giants ; to groan beneath waters
Great is the torment : the burning of fire and consump
tion
Plunged in the swelling Charybdis; drowned in Cocytus
In Scylla o'erwhelmed ; by waves and by rocks dashed
in pieces.
" Ever the Lord drops down the waters ; bound in the
clouds
Lest they should all break forth, at once their barriers
bursting,
And from their streams of fertility, gradually flowing
As from the wedders of Ruie : throughout the earth's
regions
Cold alternate and warm ; at different seasons
Rivers that never fail are constantly flowing.
" By the power divine of Great God, are constant
sustained
The globe of the earth ; and the circle which bounds
the abyss.
The strong hand of God the Omnipotent : ever support
ing
On its firm column, the same as beams of a building ;
Promontories, also, and rocks ; on solid foundations
Firm, and immovably fixed : and strengthened their
bases.
"To no man seemeth it doubtful : Hell lies in lowest
places
Region of darkness and worms : haunt of dreadful
creatures

90 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Where is consuming fire : blasting with flame consuming
Where are the groans of men : weeping and gnashing
of teeth
Where is the terrible wail ever heard of ancient
Gehenna ;
Where is the horrid consumption of thirst, and
anguish of hunger.
" Below the earth, as we read, 'tis known there are
dwellers
Often in prayer whose knee to the Lord is bent.
Impossible still it is to unroll the book written
Sealed with its seven seals : with warnings abounding
Which opened yet He hath : and so became victor
Fulfilling the glory * prophetic, that waits on. His
advent.
" That paradise at the beginning was by the Lord
planted
Read we in Genesis written : record most noble
From whose gushing fountain head four rivers are
flowing
And in whose flowery midst is placed the Tree of
Life,
Whose leaves bringeth health to the Gentiles, fail
not for ever ;
Unspeakable are whose joys : and also abundant.
" Who hath ascended to Sinai — God's chosen mountain 1
Who its thunders hath heard, beyond measure resound
ing
With the clang of the trumpet terrific fearfully pealing t

CUTHBERHT THE MONK. 91

Who the lightnings hath seen, wild flashing around ?
Who the lamps and the darts, the rocks rent and fall
ing?
Who but Moses : the judge of the people of Israel %
" The day of the Lord King of Kings most righteous is
nigh:
A day of wrath and vengeance : of darkness and cloud :
A day of thunders astounding : awful and mighty :
A day of trouble and anguish : sadness and grief;
When shall be ended the passionate love of woman,
Ended the strife of man : and the last of this world.
" Trembling we all shall stand, at the Lord's judgment
seat.
Then an account shall we render of all our deeds
Beholding also our crimes : spread forth in our sight
As well as the book of conscience, laid open before us
Then shall break forth most bitter weeping and sobs —
The day for obedience gone : the call for life service
withdrawn.
" The trump of the great archangel, its wonders pro
claiming
The strongest cloisters shall burst : wide open the
tombs shall stand,
Rent by the freezing cold that chills this earth of
ours,
Then bone shall gather to bone, and joint to joint
As meets the ethereal soul : with the body again,
Returning to tenant the mansion where erst it
dwelt.

92 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
" Christ, the most mighty Lord : from Heaven descending
Glorious the banner signed with the cross ; shall shine
Stricken the two chief lights : in the heaven o'er head,
The stars to the earth shall fall as fruit from the fig-tree.
Earth's compass shall be as the blast of a furnace
that burns.
Then shall the waning hosts hide themselves in the
caves of the mountains.
" High shall the chanted hymns swell ; all ceaseless
resoundings
Sung by the thousands of angels in chorus rejoicing ;
Joined by the living ones four, whose eyes are un
numbered ;
Also the elders— the twenty and four on thrones seated
All 'neath the feet of the Lamb of God, casting their
crowns,
Praising the Trinity ever in endless repeatings.
" Fiercely indignant the fire shall devour the opposers,
All who refuse to believe that Christ comes from the
Father.
But we upborne, shall fly forthwith to meet Him,
And with Him for ever shall be; among orders celestial.
Eternal to each the reward attained by deserving,
Thus to remain in His glory, for ever and ever." *

1 This hymn is included in the Liber Hymnorum.
The translation in the text is by Dr Todd, with a few
alterations by the editor of Lyra Hibernica Sacra.

CHAPTEE VI.
WILFRITH AND THE EASTER QUESTION.
" Not sedentary all : there are who roam,
To scatter seeds of life on barbarous shores ;
Or quit, with zealous step, their knee-worn floors
To seek the general mart of Christendom ;
Whence they, like richly-laden merchants, come
To their beloved cells ? or shall we say
That, like the Red-Cross knight, they urge their way,
To lead, in memorable triumph, home
Truth, their immortal Una ? " — WOEDSWOKTH.
4ln|rT/HE sojourn of Cuthberht at Eipon
.alfc, was of short duration, for, in the
#ill» year following its foundation, the
Columban monastery was broken up by the
advent of another monastic body holding
different tenets though following a similar
rule. In the words of Bseda, " Eata, with
Cuthberht and the rest of the brethren
whom he had brought with him, was driven
home, and the site of the monastery he had

94 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
founded was given for a habitation to the
monks.1 The cause of this sudden revolution was
the return to England of Wilfrith, leader
in that section of the Anglic Church which
acknowledged the supremacy of Eome.
King Alchfrith, who was warmly inclined to
the Catholic doctrines, bestowed on Wilfrith
and his adherents the monastery of thirty
families at "In Wrypum," which he had
recently granted to the Scotic ecclesiastics.
The latter, preferring to retain their own
canons, abandoned the newly-founded mon
astery, and returned to Lindisfarne and
Melrose. The return of Wilfrith in 661 marks the
commencement of a struggle between the
Scotic and Anglic Churches, which was ob
stinately maintained for nearly four years.
In 664, having come to an issue on the
Easter Question, their differences were, at
the council of Whitby, referred to the arbi
tration of the Northumbrian king. Each
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., B., v. 8.

THE EASTER QUESTION 95
side was represented by specially chosen
delegates ; and the struggle terminated, by
Oswin's decision in favour of the Eoman
clergy. The principal opponent of the Columban
Church, whose talents and energy contri
buted largely to secure this triumph, was
Wilfrith. Montalembert describes him as
a man of ardent and energetic temperament,
"incapable of fear or discouragement, and
born to live on those heights which attract
the thunderbolt, and rivet the gaze of the
crowd."1 Wilfrith was born in Bernicia about 634.
Descended from a noble family he was, in
his fourteenth year, introduced at the Nor
thumbrian court. By the queen, Eanfleda,
he was kindly received, and she readily
obtained the royal assent to his project of
entering the religious life. One of Oswin's
nobles, being afflicted with severe illness,
had determined to retire from the court
and pass the remainder of his days at
1 Monks of the West, iv. 371.

96 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Lindisfarne, then governed by its first great
abbot, Aidan. Wilfrith accompanied him
thither, and remained there about four
years. A diligent student and insatiable
reader, he possessed a quick intelligence and
pleasing manners. By the brethren, both
young and old, he was greatly beloved.
From an early period Wilfrith had a
strong leaning to the doctrines of Eome.
At the age of seventeen, he obtained from
his father, with the sanction of Abbot Finian,
the successor of Aidan, permission to visit
the city on which all his thoughts and
desires were centred. How far he was en
couraged in this resolve by Queen Eanfleda
we cannot determine ; but it is certain that
she recommended him by letter to her cousin-
german, Ercomberct, King of Kent,1 who, in
common with the southern Saxons, followed
1 The appended genealogical table will show the re
lationship : Ethelberht, King of Kent, m. Bertha.
Eadbald. Ethelburga, m. Eadwin.
Ercomberct. Eanfleda, m. Oswin.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 97
the teaching of Augustine. At the court of
Ercomberct, Wilfrith tarried for a whole year.
During his sojourn at the court of the
Kentish monarch, Wilfrith formed the ac
quaintance of Honorius, Archbishop of
Canterbury, and was, under his tuition,
indoctrinated in the rules and practices of
the Eoman Church. He also became inti
mate with several distinguished laymen
devoted to the service of the Church, and
to the advancement of learning. Among
these was Benedict Biscop, a Northumbrian
noble, of whom some account has been
given in the introductory chapter. In
company with this zealous patron of art,
Wilfrith, in the autumn of 653, commenced
his journey to Eome. His biographer
draws a beautiful picture of the youthful
traveller, then only in his nineteenth year.
" He was pleasant in address to all ; ready
for every good work, with a face that, in
its unclouded cheerfulness, betokened a
happy mind." x 1 Eddi, pp. 3, 4.
G

98 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Passing through central France, Wilfrith
arrived at the city of Lyons, where he be
came the guest of Archbishop Annemund,1
brother of Dalfinus, Count of Lyons. With
his bright face, frank speech, and quick
perception, Wilfrith won the archbishop's
heart, and was adopted by him as a son.
He received costly gifts, and was offered
the governorship of a province and the
hand of Annemund's niece in marriage.
Wilfrith declined the offers, and urged the
object of his journey. Eeluctantly ac
quiescing, the generous prelate dismissed
him with his benediction, and a request
that, on his return from Eome, he would
revisit Lyons. Wilfrith made the required
promise, and, attended by an escort which
the archbishop had provided, continued his
journey. Impatient to reach Eome, his
companion, Benedict Biscop, had left him
at Lyons, and gone forward alone.
At Eome, Wilfrith studied theology under
Archdeacon Boniface. He made a special
1 Early English Church History, p. 89.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 99
study of ecclesiastical law and of the Paschal
regulation, which was soon to occupy a pro
minent place in English polemics. In these
pursuits two years passed, and then Wilfrith
turned his face homewards, having first re
ceived the blessing of Pope Eugenius I.1
Wilfrith's promise to the metropolitan of
Lyons was faithfully kept ; for on his return
he took up his residence with him for three
years. While he was the guest of the
archbishop he received the Eoman tonsure,
and continued his studies under the direc
tion of the most learned of the diocesan
clergy. In 658 a tragical event terminated
this happy visit. On a charge of disaffec
tion, the archbishop was hurried to Chalons,
and there, by the command of Queen Balde-
childis and Ebroin, governor of Neustria
and Burgundy, was condemned to death.
Wilfrith accompanied his aged friend to the
scaffold, and was eager to share his fate.
" What could be better," exclaimed the noble
youth, "than that we, who are as father
1 Eddi, p. 5.

100 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
and son, should perish together ! " And
when the blow was struck which deprived
his benefactor of life, Wilfrith stripped off
his cloak and offered himself to the execu
tioner. But one was enough for the sacri
fice. The devotion of the handsome youth
touched the hearts of the spectators, and
when they understood that he was a
" foreigner of the race of the Angles," they
demanded that his life should be spared.
After attending to the obsequies of Arch
bishop Annemund, Wilfrith left the country
and returned to Northumbria. At the
court of Alchfrith he was honourably re
ceived. He had left it, a boy, with all the
bright hopes and ardent enthusiasm of a
youthful nature ; he returned, a man, with
trained intellect, matured judgment, and the
enthusiasm of youth tempered by trial and
danger. Montalembert writes of him thus :
"To the irresistible attraction which from
his earliest youth he exercised over all
hearts, there was now joined the authority
of a man who had travelled, studied, and

THE EASTER QUESTION 101
seen death and martyrdom close at hand I"1
Intellectually superior to any of his English
contemporaries, and trained in all the
scholarly lore and subtle disputations of
the Eoman priesthood, Wilfrith was fully
conscious of his power. In Eome, while he
associated only with his equals, he found
his level, and was humble ; but soon after
his return to England a change took place.
Intolerant of what he deemed the whimsical
views and antiquated doctrines of the Scotic
Church, he showed that he was not unin
fected with the spirit of domination which
characterised the Eoman clergy. Withal
he had a keen sense of duty, and the work
which he set himself to do he ardently
laboured to accomplish.
King Alchfrith had early evinced a pre
dilection for the Eoman faith in which his
mother had been baptized, and it is there
fore not surprising that he welcomed warmly
so distinguished a scion of the Church of
Eome, and besought him to remain in
1 Monks of the West, iv. 145.

102 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Deira to instruct his people. To his re
quest Wilfrith acceded, and thus commenced
a friendship between the son of Oswin and
the zealous champion of Eome, which the
biographer of Wilfrith has compared to the
love of David and Jonathan.
Land was granted first at Stamford, near
York, for the erection of a monastery ; but
the abandonment of Eipon by the Scotic
monks enabled Wilfrith there to establish
his abode. As Abbot of Eipon, he com
menced his rule in 661. He was not yet in
priest's orders ; but when Aegelbyrht, who
had relinquished his see at Dorchester,
visited the Northumbrian court, Alchfrith
besought him to ordain his friend and in
structor. Aegelbyrht readily complied with
the king's request, without so much as
consulting Colman, the Celtic Bishop of
Lindisfarne. A strange revolution must
have been at work in Wilfrith 's mind, which
led him thus to seek ordination at the
hands of a stranger, to the disparagement
of those by whom he had been reared.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 103
The three years which followed Wilfrith's
return were full of strife. Priests of
the rival churches labouring in the same
mission-field were continually coming into
collision. Countenanced by King Alchfrith,
and supported by the court, the Abbot of
Eipon was eager to engage in controversy,
and Colman, the Celtic bishop, was not
slow to accept the challenge. The royal
household even was divided against itself ;
for, while King Oswilft/ clung to the rule
of the monks of Lindisfarne, his queen
Eanfleda and his son warmly upheld the
Eoman doctrine.
About Easter-tide 664, at the suggestion
of Bishop Aegelbyrht, a conference was
arranged. King Oswilpwas appointed to
act as president, and champions on both
sides were carefully selected. The leader
of the Celtic faction was Colman, who, as
Bishop of Lindisfarne, possessed weight
and influence. With him appeared Ceadda,
Bishop of Essex.1 The Church of Eome
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 22.

104 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
was represented by King Alchfrith, Aegel
byrht, ex-Bishop of the West Saxons, Bishop
Tuda, James the deacon, the priests Agatho
and Eomanus, — the latter chaplain to Queen
Eanfleda; also by the now redoubtable
Wilfrith, Abbot of Eipon.
The conference was summoned at Whitby,
then known, not by its Norse appellative,
but, by the Saxon name Streoneshalch, the
"bay of the lighthouse." There, in the
double monastery of Hild, grand-niece of
Eadwin of Northumbria, was held that
council, upon whose decision the fate of the
Scotic Church in England was to be deter
mined. Hild has been named in connection
with the monastery established by King
Oswald at Hartlepool, whence she was trans
lated in 658 to occupy the post of Abbess
at Whitby. She and her followers were firm
adherents of the Columban rule. After her
death she was canonised, and, in common
with most of the Saxon saints, was credited
with miraculous gifts. Popular tradition
affirms that the ammonites which are found

THE EASTER QUESTION. 105
in the jet-veined cliffs were serpents which
she had transformed. Among the de
pendent cells of Whitby was Hackness,
founded in 679. At a later period the
monastery was plundered by Danish rovers.
The abbot made his escape, and carried
with him to Glastonbury the relics of the
sainted abbess. With Whitby also are
associated the names of Caedmon, who
there laboured, and of John of Beverley,
Bishop of Hexham, who was trained in its
school. After the Conquest the convent
was disused as a nunnery.
The question upon which the rival
Churches had come to an issue, and which
their delegates had met at Streoneshalch to
discuss, was not new. Differing in minor
points of discipline, the Celtic and Eoman
Churches were especially opposed in their
mode of Easter celebration ; and it was on
this question that King OswiiLwas invited
to give judgment. In the year 590 it had
been a subject of dispute between the clergy
of Gaul and Columbanus, the Celtic mis-

106 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
sionary, who, with twelve followers, founded
the monasteries of Luxueil and Fontaines
in the Vosges. In 634, the year of Aidan's
settlement at Lindisfarne, Cummian, Abbot
of Durrow, in Ireland, addressed a letter to
Abbot Seghine of lona, in which he re
ported that after careful examination he
had concluded to accept the Eoman paschal
computation as correct. This method,
was, on the recommendation of Pope
Honorius, adopted by the clergy in the
south of Ireland. During the episcopate of
Finian, a Scot, named Eonan, who had been
educated in France or Italy, re-opened the
question ; but being warmly opposed by the
Abbot of Lindisfarne, whose influence was
at that time supreme, he could effect no
reform. The attempt of Wilfrith and the
Eomanists to enforce this change upon the
Northumbrian people produced a revival of
the old dispute.1 In our introductory
chapter we have briefly indicated, in con
nection with Bseda's criticism of Aidan,
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 159-161, 164.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 107
the outlines of this difficult and complicated
subject ; but fuller details are necessary.
On this point the Celtic and Eoman
clergy were agreed — that Easter should be
celebrated only on Sunday; but by the
different Churches the festival was not held
contemporaneously. The Celtic Church
observed Easter in the week commencing
from the fourteenth day of the month ;
the Eoman Church in that commencing
from the fifteenth. By the former cal
culation Easter Sunday did not always fall
on the Sunday after the Passover, but oc
casionally on the day of that Jewish feast.
This difference arose from the adoption by
each Church of a distinct mode of calculation.
The Eomanists accurately averred that the
system which they followed was more cor
rect than that adopted by the Celtic clergy.
The Eoman computation was based on the
cycle of Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea,
which fixed the recurrence of the new
and full moons at a lapse of nineteen years ;
while the cycle by which the Celtic monks

108 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
regulated their calculations gave a period
of twenty-four years. The Eoman method
is that which with a slight modification is
followed now.
It is easy to understand that this dis
crepancy in their calculations caused a con
siderable difference in the period at which
the festival was celebrated by the two
Churches. Thus, if the full moon fell on
the 21st March, agreeably to the Eoman,
or on the 20th according to the Celtic com
putation, the Sunday following that full
moon would be assigned as Easter by the
former method, but by the latter Easter
would fall to be celebrated on the Sunday
following the next full moon, or, in other
words, an entire month later. This want of
uniformity combined with the scandal of
occasionally holding the Christian festival
coincident with the Jewish, was a reproach
strongly urged by the Eomanists against
the Celtic priesthood ; it was also a power
ful argument in favour of reform. In his
letter to Abbot Seghine, Cummian remarked

THE EASTER QUESTION. 109
that, while " Egyptians, Grecians, Hebrews,
Scythians, and all the world were agreed to
celebrate Easter at a fixed time, the Celtic
Church alone was disjoined by the interval
of a whole month." Such is a brief outline
of the question which chiefly occupied the
attention, and engaged the skill of the dis
putants at the Council of Whitby.
King Oswin urged upon his hearers the
benefit of uniformity. He said, "It be
hoves you who serve one God to observe
the same rule of life ; and as you all hope
to gain the same kingdom of heaven, so
you ought not to differ in the celebration of
the Divine mysteries ; but rather to inquire
which is the truest tradition, that the same
may be followed by all." After this ex
ordium, Bishop Colman briefly referred to
the position of the Celtic Church. His
words were interpreted by Ceadda for be
hoof of his Saxon audience, "My usage,"
said he, " is that which I learned from my
elders at Hii who sent me hither, and which
we understand is traced to Saint John.

110 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
I dare not change it, and I have no mind
to change it. We hold it as an inspired
tradition, that the fourteenth moon being
Sunday, is to be kept as Easter. Let our
opponents state their opinion."
All eyes were turned on Aegelbyrht as
the highest in rank on the Eoman side, but
the wary prelate remembering his imperfect
acquaintance with the language, was too
astute to risk a bad impression at the
outset ; he accordingly craved permission
that Wilfrith might act as speaker on his
behalf. "We both agree," he said, "with the
other upholders of the Church's traditions,
who are present; and Wilfrith can better
express himself in the English tongue,
which is native to him, than I can through
an interpreter." The excuse was admitted,
and from this time the discussion was
conducted by Wilfrith and Colman alone.
Addressing the assembly, Wilfrith com
menced his speech by explaining the
manner in which he had seen the Catholic
Easter observed in Italy and France. It

THE EASTER QUESTION. Ill
was, he said, similarily celebrated in Africa,
Egypt, Greece, and Asia ; and wherever the
Church of Christ was spread abroad, " save
only by these " — pointing contemptuously to
Colman and his adherents — " and by their
associates, who, belonging to distant parts of
two remote islands, are foolishly endeavour
ing to combat the world."
To this scornful language Colman re
joined, " I marvel you should call us foolish
who follow the rule of the apostle whom
the Lord loved."
"Far be it from me," replied Wilfrith,
" to charge John with folly; for he observed
the precepts of the Jewish law, while the
Church was still Judaized, and the apostles
were unable at once to cast off all the
observances of the law which had been
instituted by God. ... So John began
the celebration of Easter on the fourteenth
day of the first month in the evening, un
concerned whether the same happened on
a Saturday or any other day. But when
Peter preached at Eome, being mindful

112 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
that our Lord arose from the dead on the
first day after the Sabbath, he understood
that Easter ought to be observed so as to
stay till the rising of the moon on the four
teenth day of the first moon in the evening,
according to the custom of the law, and
when that came, if the Lord's Day was the
next, he that evening began to keep Easter
as we do now. But if the Lord's Day did
not fall next morning after the fourteenth
moon, but on the sixteenth or seventeenth,
or any other moon till the twenty-first, he
waited for it, and on the Saturday before,
in the evening, began to observe this holy
solemnity. Thus it came to pass that
Easter Sunday was only kept from the
fifteenth moon to the twenty-first.1 But ye,"
he added " agree neither with John nor with
Peter ; neither with law nor with Gospel."
When Wilfrith had sat down, Colman
appealed to the paschal canon of Anatolius.
Wilfrith remarked that in making this
appeal he fell into error. " What have you
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 25.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 113
to do with Anatolius," he asked, "since
you do not observe his decrees 1 For he,
following the rule of truth, appointed a
revolution of nineteen years, which either
you are ignorant of, or which, if you know,
you nevertheless despise." 1
When Colman urged that it was impro
bable that Columba and his successors, men
whose sanctity was attested by miracles,
should be in error, the reply of Wilfrith
was conclusive. " Concerning your father
Columba and his followers, whose sanctity
you say you imitate, and whose precepts
you remark have been confirmed by signs
from heaven, I answer that when many on
the day of judgment shall say to our Lord.
that in His name they prophesied and cast
out devils, He will reply that He never
knew them. But be it far from me that of
your fathers I should so speak, as it is more
just to believe what is good than what is
evil of those whom we do not know. I do
not deny that they were God's servants.
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 25.
H

114 C UTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Nor do I think that their observance of
Easter was prejudicial to them, so long as
they knew not a more perfect rule ; and I
believe that if any catholic adviser had come
among them, they would have followed his
admonitions, even as they kept those com
mandments which they learned and knew."1
Then in a solemn peroration he warned his
opponents of the mortal sin they were com
mitting in rejecting the decrees of the Apos
tolic Church, and preferring the rule of
Columba to the authority of Peter, prince
of the apostles.
Such is the substance, as recorded by
Bseda, of Wilfrith's speech, which, other
wise cogent and powerful, is marred by
contemptuous allusions to his early instruc
tors. But ardent reformers are seldom
considerate of the feelings of others, nor
do they calculate upon what they lose by
ignoring that charity which their Master
pronounced to be more blessed than the
other virtues.
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 25.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 115
Wilfrith greatly impressed his Saxon audi
ence. No one present could refute his asser
tions, or expose the weak points of his
argument. None were present to show that
in his reference to St Peter's observance of
Easter he had exceeded the bounds of his
torical truth ; and that he had conveyed an
erroneous impression when he endeavoured
to persuade his hearers that the Eoman
Church, on the question in dispute, had held
an authentic tradition. Eome had formerly
been in error on that very point, and had
altered her old paschal regulation, by which
the Easter festival fell to be celebrated on
the sixteenth day of the moon. But Wilfrith
profited by the comparative ignorance of his
adversaries. What they believed they could
not prove ; while the appeal to the majesty
of the first apostle, with which their wilyj
opponent concluded his speech, weighed
with the superstitious king far more than
any other argument.
"Is it true, Colman," said King Oswin,
"that the words, that on him should be

116 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
built the Church, were spoken to Peter by
our Lord ? " " It is true," answered Colman.
"Can you show any such power given to your
Columba ? " pursued the king. " None," was
the honest answer. "You both agree,"
proceeded the king, " that upon Peter was
bestowed power to found the Church, and
that the keys of heaven were given in charge
to him ? " To this query Wilfrith and Col
man signified their assent. "Then," said
the king, " I say that Peter is door-keeper of
heaven, and that I dare not oppose him, but
in all things must submit to his authority,
lest, when I reach the gates of the celestial
city, they be closed against me."
The nobles and freemen present raised
their hands to signify approval of the king's
decision ; and the council broke up.
Contented with the result, Ceadda re
turned to his East-Saxon diocese; but at
the time he was the only notable convert to
Wilfrith's eloquence. Bishop Aegelbyrht
departed to France, there to convey to his
fellow-countrymen tidings of the Eoman

THE EASTER QUESTION. 117
triumph. On Wilfrith, the hero of the
hour, abundant honours were bestowed.
He was created Archbishop of York, in
succession to Paulinus, who, thirty years
before, had been expelled from that see.
To the decision of the king Colman sub
mitted, but he peremptorily refused to ac- !
knowledge the authority of Eome, or to
conform the usages of his Church with those
of the Eoman clergy. He preferred to
relinquish his mission. We cannot with
hold our admiration and sympathy as we
behold him preparing to abandon the
monastery over which he had ruled, and
which he must have associated with hal
lowed memories.1 From this trial he did
not flinch. Taking with him some of the
bones of Aidan, as memorials of the founder
1 Bseda informs us, " that Colman, perceiving his doc
trine was rejected and his sect despised, took with him
such as were willing to follow him, and would not comply
with the Catholic Easter and the coronal tonsure (for
there was much controversy about that also), and went
back into Scotia or Ireland to consult with his people
what was to be done." — Hist. Eccles., iii. 25.

118 C UTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
of Lindisfarne, he caused the remainder to
be buried in the sacristy. We can imagine
his progress on that sad journey along the
Northumbrian coast, and over the rugged
mountains and bleak moors of the Scottish
Lowlands. All the Celtic monks, also
thirty Northumbrians, who were members
of the community, followed his fortunes.
With him they went first to Hii, and there
made report to the superior ofthe Columban
Church. It was probably at this time that
Colman founded the Church of Fearn in
Angus, dedicated to Aidan, and that of
Tarbet in Easter Eoss, which is associated
with his own name.1 Four years later,
about 668, he proceeded to Ireland, and
there, on the island of Innisboffin, estab
lished a monastery.2 Harmony, however,
did not prevail among his Celtic and Anglic
adherents. The reason, as stated by Bseda,
is not without interest to those who are
acquainted with the nature of the Celt as
1 Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 167.
2 Scot. Kal., pp. 303, 304.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 119
he is still to be found in the Scottish High
lands or in south-western Ireland. " The
Irishmen," writes Bseda quaintly, " used to
leave the monastery when the harvest work
commenced, returning in winter to share,
with their English brethren, the fruit of
labours in which they had not participated."
The result of this disagreement was that
the Northumbrian monks withdrew to the
mainland, and, purchasing a small tract of
land in Mageo (Mayo), founded an inde
pendent house, of which Tuda, a Scot, was
the first abbot. Eespecting the close of
Colman's career, not much is known. He
died about the year 676 in Scotia, that is,
Ireland, on the little island where he had
settled with those who accompanied him
from Lindisfarne.1
The decision promulgated by the council
at Whitby was very important; it marks
an epoch in the English Church. The con
nection with Eome and dependence on her
authority thus inaugurated, endured for
1 Scot. Kal., pp. 303, 304.

120 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
nearly nine centuries. Improved culture
and a higher civilising power were attained,
while in view of the subsequent degradation
of the Irish Church, the decree, by which
old things were swept away cannot be re
gretted. Yet it is impossible not to sympa
thise with the zealous and unselfish devotion
of the Celtic monks, and to wish that their
labours had obtained a better recompense.
Bseda, a member of a rival Church, has
pronounced their panegyric : " The place
which they governed shows how frugal and
self-denying they were. There were very
few houses besides the church found at
their departure ; indeed, no more than were
barely sufficient for their daily residence.
They had. also no money but cattle ; for if
they received any money from rich persons
they immediately gave it to the poor ; there
being no need to gather money or provide
houses for the entertainment of the great
men of the world. . . . The king him
self, when opportunity offered, came only
with five or six thegns, and having per-

THE EASTER QUESTION. 121
formed his devotions in the church, departed.
But if they happened to take a repast there,
they were satisfied with the plain and daily
food of the brethren, and required nothing
more. The priests and clerics went into
the villages with no other object but to
preach, baptize, visit the sick, and, in brief,
to take care of souls. So free were they
from the curse of worldly greed, that none
of them received lands and possessions for
building monasteries unless they were com
pelled to do so by the temporal authorities ;
which custom was for some time after ob
served in all the churches of the Northum
brians. For these reasons," adds Bseda,
" the religious habit was at that time held
in such esteem, that wheresoever monk or
cleric happened to come he was welcomed
by all as the servant of God ; and if people
chanced to meet him on the way, they ran
to him, and bowing, were glad to be signed
by his hand or blessed by his mouth. Great
attention also was paid to their exhortations,
and on Sunday the people flocked eagerly

122 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
to the churches or monasteries to hear the
Word of Life."1
The victory was duly estimated at Eome,
as the connection between the Anglic and
Eoman Churches was further cemented, and
the authority of Eome emphatically vindi
cated. Theodore, a monk of Tarsus, was
in 669, at Canterbury, consecrated Primate
of the English Church. King Oswin had two
years previously despatched a priest named
Wigheard to Eome, with the view of his
being ordained archbishop, but his emissary
died soon after his arrival at the papal
court.2 Wilfrith had reached the summit of
his ambition, and his fame spread beyond
the narrow limits of his native isle. His
diocese was co-extensive with the domin
ions of his royal master, and his episcopal
authority co-equal with the regal power.
He had no difficulty in establishing his
doctrines among the sluggish and super
stitious Saxons, who cared little whether
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 26.
2 Ann. Eng., 8vo, 1876, p. 33.

THE EASTER QUESTION. 123
the tenets of their religion were derived
through Peter or Columba. But the in
habitants of the Western Highlands were1
beyond the influence of his rule, and re-l
mained faithful to the Church at Hii. Iti
was no easy path that Wilfrith had to tread.
From the hour of his elevation to the arch
bishopric, care and strife beset him. Thrice
was he deprived of his honours and driven
into exile ; and the close of his life was em
bittered by the unpopularity which he had
awakened through his unconciliating temper.
To both parties the Church of England
owes a debt of gratitude — to the Celtic
monks for sowing the seeds of Christianity
at a time when the land was sunk in bar
barism ; and not less to Wilfrith and his
followers, who, retaining what was good in
the system they supplanted, introduced a
higher culture and a sounder educational
standard among the people, both lay and
cleric.

CHAPTEE VII.
CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE.
" Soldier of the Cross arise !
Oird you with your armour bright ;
Mighty are your enemies —
Hard the battle you must fight.
" 'Mid the homes of want and woe —
Strangers to the living Word —
Let the Saviour's herald go,
Let the voice of hope be heard."
—Rev. W. W. How.
N||H|HI|'HEN the establishment at Eipon was
HI broken up, Cuthberht accompanied
WW Eata and his other fellow-monks on
their return to Melrose. There he became
the companion of Boisil, the aged prior, who
did not, however, long survive. He died in
664. Kent and Essex had been desolated
by a deadly pestilence styled in the old
chronicles "the yellow plague." The con
tagion spread northward, and some time

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 125
in 664 was communicated to the monks of
Lindisfarne. Many of them perished, in
cluding the abbot and Bishop Tuda.1 From
Lindisfarne, crossing the Cheviots to the
vale of Tweed, the pest appeared at Melrose,
the infection, doubtless, being conveyed by
visitors travelling from one monastery to
the other. Cuthberht was attacked, and
the monks for a whole night prayed that
his life might be spared. Eousing himself
by a vigorous effort, Cuthberht called for his
sandals and staff, and rose from his sick
bed. This procedure, which on a feebler
constitution might have resulted fatally,
contributed to his recovery, for from that
hour he regained strength. The effects of
the illness, however, he never wholly sur
mounted. Boisil was the next victim.
Three years previously he had predicted
the time and manner of his death. He
1 Raine's Life of St Cuthberht. Tuda had been ap
pointed Bishop of the Northumbrians, in succession to
Colman, but died before he had well entered on his
official duties.

126 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
then prophetically assured Cuthberht that
he would be ordained a bishop. Boisil
regarded Cuthberht as the fittest person to
succeed him in the office of prior ; and when
the pestilence seized him, knowing he had
not long to live, he summoned his friend to
receive his parting instructions. Together
they studied the Gospel of St John, divid
ing it into seven portions, of which one
was read daily. On the seventh morning,
when the task was completed, Boisil ex
pired. During the brief period he was
.able to impart to his protege" valuable and
important council. Cuthberht's appoint
ment to the priorate was unopposed.
Outside the monastery the epidemic con
tinued to rage furiously, especially in the
villages. Under the affliction many of the
peasants relapsed into paganism, and, to
the great grief of their instructors, "put
faith in charms and amulets."1 On foot
and on horseback the new prior traversed
the district, exhorting his flock to continue
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 27 ; Vit. Cuthb., p. 9.

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 127
steadfast in the faith. In those days it
was most difficult to get rid of an epidemic.
The diet of the people, consisting principally
of salted fish or meat, combined with the lack
of cleanliness in their persons and dwell
ings, intensified the violence of the disorder.
And so the mournful story was repeated,
time after time, through the long centuries
of the Middle Ages, until other "visita
tions," as these pestilential outbreaks were
termed, induced the necessity of paying
respect to the laws of health and of practis
ing sanitary reform. How far Cuthberht
succeeded in his efforts to arrest the pro
gress of the epidemic is unrecorded, but
his unselfish devotion is known to have
favourably impressed the people.
The vale of Tweed and Ettrick has long
been celebrated for its rich pastoral beauty.
Describing the district, a modern writer re
marks : "Agriculture has chosen its valleys
for her favourite seat, and drainage and
steam-power have turned sedgy marshes
into farm and meadow. But to see the

128 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Lowlands as they were in Cuthberht's day,
we must sweep away meadow and farm
again, and replace them by vast solitudes,
dotted here and there with clusters of
wooden hovels, and covered by boggy tracts,
over which travellers rode spear in hand
and eye kept cautiously about them. "
Such were the features of the region in
which Cuthberht pursued his labours. His
teaching was successful; for, while sagaci
ous in estimating character, he possessed
a cheerful manner and address, which ren
dered him everywhere a welcome and
cherished visitor. Unlike Aidan, he was
accompanied by no loyal interpreter, whose
presence might protect him from insult, and
secure him a hearing. But the apostle of
the Lowlands possessed an important ad
vantage over his fellow -monks : he was
familiar with the topography of the country,
for he had often led his flocks along the
steep fells and over the heathy wastes of
the Lammermoors ; and he was, if not
peasant-born, at least peasant-bred. Simple

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 129
in his fare, and homely in his manners, he
could converse with the people in their own
rustic tongue and with the rich Northum
brian burr, which he had caught in his
boyhood. His pastoral visitations were not, how
ever, confined to hamlets at Melrose ; from
the coast of Berwick to the shores of the
Solway his face was familiar and his pres
ence welcome. The memory of his mission-
journeys lingers in Lowland tradition ; it is
preserved in the numerous churches raised
in his honour and dedicated to his fame.
Visiting the monastery of Coludi or Cold-
ingham, he there tarried some days at the
solicitation of Ebba, the abbess. At Coludi,
as elsewhere, he spent a portion of the
night in vigil and prayer, and for this pur
pose went forth when the other brethren
were asleep. A monk, who had observed
his departure, quietly followed him. Cuth
berht walked to the beach, and entering
the sea till the water was up to his neck,
began to chant the hymnal service. When
i

130 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
his vigil was ended, he waded ashore and
knelt upon the sand. There is a legend
among the Northumbrian peasantry that
two otters stole forth from their lair among
the rocks, licked his half-frozen feet, and
wiped them with their coats, thereby restor
ing warmth.1 This legend illustrates the
ascetic side of monkish discipline. Cuth
berht in this respect followed the founder
of his sect. Of Columba we read that he
only slept while his attendant, Diarmid, read
three chapters of the "Beati," and that it
was his habit to recite the "three fifties"
(or Psalms) until daybreak, kneeling on the
shore. When he lay on the sand, he left
upon it the impression of his ribs ; for he
dispensed with night clothing whether of
linen or wool, and slumbered contentedly
with his body in contact with the soil, and
a stone for his pillow.2
From Coldingham Cuthberht proceeded
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 10.
2 Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 505 ; App. Irish Life of St
Columba.

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 131
to visit the Picts of Galloway. Setting
sail with two of his brethren, he landed
on the day after Christmas somewhere
in the territory of the Niduarii, who in
habited the district which surrounded the
estuary of the Nith. As soon as he
and his companions had disembarked, a
storm arose, which prevented their again
putting to sea, while deep snow-drifts de
terred them from penetrating inland. Thus
the little band was detained several days,
suffering from hunger and cold. Cuth
berht's faith was strong, while his robust
frame enabled him to sustain the miseries
which depressed his feebler companions.
He reminded them of the Israelites who
were miraculously supported in the wilder
ness. Eetiring to the base of a cliff to
pray, he there found some pieces of dolphin's
flesh, which appeared as if freshly cut and
prepared for cooking. Their wants sup
plied, Cuthberht and his companions waited
patiently till the tempest ceased; and on
the fourth day they again launched their

132 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
bark.1 Tradition affirms that on the spot
where the Columban monks were thus pre
served, a church was subsequently erected ;
and in Kirkcudbright — the name of a Scot
tish town and stewartry — we have a momo-
rial of the visit.2
On another occasion Cuthberht, with a
young companion, was travelling through a
wild and lonely district. They had brought
no provisions, trusting to arrive at their
destination before night-fall ; and at sunset
they reached the bank of a large river.
The shades of evening descended, and they
were yet far from any habitation, and knew
not where to obtain shelter and food. Sud
denly Cuthberht and his friend saw an
eagle soaring overhead, which, scared by
their approach, dropped a fish which it had
just caught and was bearing off. The lad
who accompanied Cuthberht ran forward
and picked up the prize, rejoicing. Cuth
berht rebuked him, saying, " God hath fed
us by means of that bird ; cut the fish in
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 11. 2 Ibid., p. 12.

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 133
two, and give one to His handmaid, as her
service deserves."1
During one of his journeys Cuthberht
visited at Wrangholm the widow Kenspid,
who had tended him in youth. While he
was sojourning at her dwelling, a fire broke
out which threatened to destroy the hamlet.
At his prayer the conflagration was arrested,
and, as in the case of Aidan at Bamborough,
the village was preserved.2
The kind remembrance of his former
protectress, who had been to him as a
mother, and the friendships which he formed
with Ebba, Hild, and other celebrated and
pious women, are not consistent with the
ascetic character assigned to Cuthberht by
certain writers. It has been said that he
had a strong dislike and contempt for
women; and in proof of this, a red line
is pointed out on the marble pavement
of Durham Cathedral, beyond which he
would permit no female to pass. What
ever the rules of his self-discipline might
i Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 12. 2 Ibid., p. 14.

134 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
require when he withdrew to the seclusion
of Farne Island and adopted the life of an
anchorite, the record of Cuthberht's life
generally is at variance with this tradi
tion. And it is to be remarked that the
prohibition is mentioned by neither of his
biographers. Possessed of a strong will,
he was withal humble and genial ; and his
disposition, if we read it aright, was untinged
by unreasonable asceticism. The purity of
his life was above suspicion, and he enjoyed
the respect and affection of the many nuns
connected with the Northumbrian Church.
He was not deeply read, or a profound
scholar; but he bore in his heart a warm
love to his fellow-men, and was ever ready
to aid the cause of religion and virtue.
A story which refers to a later period
of his life illustrates these kindly quali
ties. Hildemer, one of Ecgfrith's courtiers,
who entertained Cuthberht in his house
when he passed on his diocesan visitations,
travelled to Melrose, where his bishop then
was, to beseech him to visit his sick wife,

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 135
or to send a priest to administer to her the
holy eucharist. Cuthberht offered to pro
ceed personally, and comforted the sorrow
ing husband by the assurance that on his
return he would find his wife in restored
health. The event confirmed the truth of
his prediction ; and Hildemer and his wife,
now recovered from her illness, gratefully
entertained their guest.1
The assertion as to Cuthberht's anti
pathy to women was probably invented by
mediseval writers, who, claiming Cuthberht
by conversion as a member of their Church,
were desirous of representing him as cherish
ing the peculiar traits which characterised
their own saints. True or false, the repu
tation thus attributed to him long survived
in local tradition; and, in revenge for his
alleged regulations concerning women, a
cloth which he was said to have used in
celebrating mass, and which was woven
into the sacred standard borne victoriously
by England on many a bloody field, was
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 15.

136 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNEt
burned by Calvin's sister, wife of the first
Dean of Durham, after the Eeformation.
" It is difficult for us," to quote the words
of an. eloquent modern writer, "to realise
to ourselves what the pagan life which these
early Celtic missionaries confronted really
was — its hopeless corruption, its utter dis
regard of the sanctity of domestic ties, its
injustice and selfishness, its violent and
bloody character ; and these characteristics
could not be diminished in a people who
had been partially Christianised, and had
fallen back from it into heathenism. The
monastic missionaries did not commence
their work, as the earlier secular Church
would have done, by arguing against their
idolatry, superstition, and immorality, and
preaching a purer faith ; but they opposed
to it the antagonistic characteristics and
purer life of Christianity. They asked and
obtained a settlement in some small and
valueless island. There they settled down
as a little Christian colony, living under a
monastic rule requiring the abandonment

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 137
of all that was attractive in life. They ex
hibited a life of purity, holiness, and self-
denial. They exercised charity and bene
volence, and they forced the respect of the
surrounding pagans for a life the motives;
of which they could not comprehend, unless i
they resulted from principles higher than
those this pagan religion afforded them ;
and having won their respect for their lives
and their gratitude for their benevolence,
these monastic missionaries went among
them with the Word of God in their
hands, and preached to them the doc
trines and pure morality of the Word of
Life."1 Of the precise character of that paganism
which prevailed among the inhabitants of
the Scottish Lowlands, and against which
the efforts of the Celtic Church were
directed, it is scarcely possible to present
any full and accurate description. The
accounts which survive in the writings of
the earlier chroniclers are meagre and un-
"* Skene's Celt. Scot., ii. 73, 74.

Cl!

138 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
satisfactory, and, like the biographies of St
Patrick, St Columba, and others, they throw
very imperfect light on this dark period.
They were composed rather as panegyrics
to demonstrate the holy nature and miracu
lous powers of the founders of the Celtic
Church, than as sober narratives of histori
cal events. This much may be gathered.
Like the ancient Greeks and Eomans, the
Picts and Scots worshipped the unknown
and invisible. Their vivid fancy peopled
the lakes and groves, hills and rivers, with
mysterious divinities, whose anger was to
be deprecated and goodwill propitiated. In
Ireland a survival of the ancient belief is
to be found among the peasantry ; and Scot
land had her day of faith in fairies and
browniqs, kelpies and hobgoblins. Their
votaries were persuaded that these beings
could at will assume palpable forms and
associate with mankind. The legend runs
that the daughter of the King of Connaught,
coming early to a spring outside the village,
and there meeting St Patrick and his seven

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 139
companions, took them for the fountain's
tutelary deities.
The Celtic missionaries had to do battle ,
with many heathen practices, and especi
ally with those connected with incantation.
With them opposition took the form, not
of argument or denunciation, but that of
contrasting the purity and unselfish devo
tion of Christianity with the idolatry and
immorality of pagan worship. The chief
workers of unholy spells were the Druids,
who by their magical arts claimed to appease
the wrath of the gods, and induce them to
grant prosperity. The life of St Patrick
abounds with details of his controversies
with this influential class, who filled impor
tant posts at courts, and were the coun
sellors of kings.1
By severe and continuous labour only
could Cuthberht hope to counteract the
degrading influences of evil teachers. He
1 For an exhaustive account of the real nature and
social position of the Druids, see Skene's Celt. Scot.,
ii. 110-119.

140 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
did not shrink from the contest, and was
the first to preach the doctrines of Chris
tianity, and to commend by his example a
better life to the Galwegian mountaineers.
But his term of office as Prior of Melrose
was brief, for he was soon to be translated
to another sphere.
Though not present at the Council of
Whitby, Cuthberht and the community at
Melrose were deeply interested in the issue.
In quitting his island see, Colman recom
mended Eata as his successor ; and doubt
less in his journey through the Lowlands
on his return to Hii, he visited Melrose.
The brethren had not all accompanied Col
man on his departure from Lindisfarne.
Some remained, attached to their old home,
and were willing to accept the proposed
change rather than be driven into exile.
Toward these Colman exercised a compas
sionate feeling, and on their account be
sought King Oswin to appoint as abbot one
who had received his training at Holy Isle
under the direction of Bishop Aidan. The

CUTHBERHT, PRIOR OF MELROSE. 141
petition was granted; and Eata, without
resigning the charge of Melrose, became
Abbot of Lindisfarne, where, along with
Cuthberht and others, he soon afterwards
adopted the Eoman rule. Cuthberht ac
companied him from Melrose to Lindis
farne.1
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iii. 26.

CHAPTEE VIII.
LINDISFARNE.
" Stern daughter of the voice of God,
0 Duty ! if that name thou love,
Who art a light to guide, a rod
To check the erring, and reprove ;
Thou who art victory and law
When empty terrors overawe ;
From vain temptations dost set free,
And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity !
" To humbler functions awful power !
I call thee : I myself commend
Unto thy guidance from this hour ;
Oh ! let my weakness have an end !
Give unto me, made lowly wise,
The spirit of self-sacrifice ;
The confidence of reason give ;
And in the light of truth thy bondman let me live I "
^N his arrival at Lindisfarne, the new
abbot proceeded to introduce the
new rules determined by the Council
of Whitby. In this work of reform, Eata
was vigorously assisted by Cuthberht, whom
he had appointed prior. Their task was

LINDISFARNE. 143
no easy one. Though some of the brethren
were disposed to submit to the Anglic
Church, the majority favoured the old doc
trine, and resisted innovation. Unlike Col
man, however, their zeal did not induce
them to abandon their home ; they elected
to remain and to adhere to the canons in
which they had been trained. From the
angry monks Eata and Cuthberht suffered
personal insult. Cuthberht's attitude was
most praiseworthy, his magnanimity being
conspicuously displayed. Amidst reproach
and contumely he never lost self-control,
but would rise and go calmly out, and at
next opportunity repeat his exhortations.
In this manner he succeeded in inclining
some of the brethren to adopt his views.
In discipline Cuthberht was strict. Whole
nights were, in succession, passed in vigil
and prayer, and when the brethren were
asleep, he would steal forth to the rocky
beach, and there wander about reciting
psalms. At other times, in his cell, he
would employ the hours of meditation

144 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
in fashioning something useful with his
hands. In all that related to the internal regula
tion of the monastery, Cuthberht was a firm
administrator. In the matter of dress he
was especially exacting. The Celtic love of
ornamentation infected even the monastic
orders, but the Prior of Lindisfarne enjoined
a simple costume of undyed wool. Opposed
to ostentation, he himself wore garments
" neither over rich nor slovenly." The rule
thus enforced was generally adopted ; "for,"
writes Bseda, "to this day it is not customary
for any in that monastery to wear garments
of costly material or gay colour, but to be
content with the natural appearance of the
wool." The material was woven into coarse
frieze, capable of resisting moisture.
Every Sunday morning the Holy Com
munion was celebrated, when all joined
in the sacred rite. Eespecting this sacra
ment, the teaching of the Anglic Church
was much in accordance with the modern
practice of the Church of England. Gre-

LINDISFARNE. 145
gory, the Anglo-Saxon apostle, designated
the eucharist " a pledge of eternal life anq
a sacramental image." In Gregory's appre
hension, therefore, communicants received
not the Saviour's substance, but a pledge"
and an image only. Bseda attributes to
Christ's eucharistic presence a character
merely spiritual, teaching that the sacra
mental bread had a mystical reference to
the body of our blessed Lord, the wine to
His blood. He further affirmed that Jesus
gave to His disciples at the Last Supper the
figure of His body and blood. In drawing
a parallel between the Lord's Supper and
the Passover, Bseda remarks, that Christ
substituted for the flesh and blood of a lamb
the sacrament of His own body and blood.
" In the days of our venerable countryman,"
says one of our Bampton lecturers, "we
are assured expressly the term ' sacrament '
meant a sacred sign."
From a passage in the " Homilies of
Archbishop iElfrid," we learn more pre
cisely the teaching of the Anglic Church on

146 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
this subject : " Much is between the body
Christ suffered in and the body that is
hallowed to Housel, that is, the consecrated
bread. The body, truly, that Christ suffered
in was born of the flesh of Mary, with blood
and bone, with skin and with sinews, and
human limbs, with a reasonable living soul ;
and His ghostly body, which we do call the
Housel, is gathered of many ears of corn,
without blood and bone, without limb, with
out soul; and therefore nothing is to be
understood therein bodily, but all is ghostly
to be understood. And yet that lively
bread is not bodily so notwithstanding — not
the self-same body that Christ suffered in ;
nor that holy wine is the Saviour's blood
which was shed for us, in bodily thing, but
in ghostly understanding. Both be truly,
that wine His blood, and that bread His
body ; as was the heavenly bread which we
call manna, that fed forty years in the
wilderness God's people ; and the clear
water which ran from the stone was then
His blood, as Paul wrote, 'all our fathers

LINDISFARNE. 147
drank of that ghostly stone, and that stone
was Christ. They all ate the same ghostly
meat, and drank the same ghostly drink.'
And he said not bodily, but ghostly. And
Christ was not yet born, nor His blood
shed, when the people of Israel ate of that
meat and drank of that stone. And the
stone was not bodily Christ, though he so
said. It was the same mystery in the old
law, and then did ghostly signify Housel of
our Saviour's body which we consecrate
now." In the post-communion prayer we
further remark the teaching of the Anglo-
Saxon Church : "Grant that we may behold,
face to face, and may enjoy truly and really
in heaven, Him whom here we see enigma
tically, and, — under another species, — Him
on whom we feed sacramentally."
^ Cuthberht's labours were not confined to
the monastery. Like Aidan, he wandered
over the moorlands of Northumbria, teach
ing the people from house to house, and
winning all hearts as he had done in the
Lowlands of Scotland. So the years passed

148 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
quietly and uneventfully. A new genera
tion of instructors and missionaries rose up
under his guidance. At length he chose an
eremitical life, which he had long contem
plated. In what year he did so, we cannot
precisely determine. Skene places it in
670 ;a by other writers the year 676 is
named. In either case it was prior to the
promotion of Abbot Eata, who in 678 be
came Bishop of Hexham.
Subsequent to the Council of Whitby,
the progress of the Anglic Church was
marked and important. During the absence
of Wilfrith in France, when he was to be
consecrated bishop, Ceadda fulfilled his
duties at York. On Wilfrith's return in
669, he was transferred to the see of Mercia.
From 669 to 678 — a period of nine years —
Wilfrith administered the diocese of York.
His patron, King Oswin, having died in
670, was succeeded by Ecgfrith, his eldest
son. Alchfrith. the pupil and friend of
Wilfrith, who had fought at Winwoed, and,
1 Celt. Scot., ii. 211.

LINDISFARNE. 149
in conjunction with his father, ruled the
province of Deira, was, on account of his
illegitimacy, passed over by the votes of the
Northumbrian Witena, and thereupon with
drew to the Scottish Isles. At lona he
cultivated letters, and led a retired and
simple life.1 By his marriage with the
sister of Peada, King of Mercia, he helped
to establish Christianity in that kingdom.
In 673 the Synod of Hertford was held,
at which was planned the partition of the
Mercian diocese. The first-fruits of this
council were the establishment of sees at
Dunwich and Elmham, in East Anglia ; in
the following year Wilfrith founded a mon
astery at Hagulstad or Hestaldesheim, near
the modern Hexham. In the previous year
he had obtained from Ethelfreda, the con
sort of Ecgfrith, a grant of land for the
purpose. The monastery was erected on
a spot about twenty miles from Newcastle,
where two branches of the river Tyne meet.
Then followed, between 676 and 680, the
1 Sharon Turner's Hist. Anglo-Saxons, i. 378.

150 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
foundation of the sees of Hereford, Lindisse
or Lindsey (now Stow, in Lincolnshire),
Worcester, and Leicester. Previous to 685
Wilfrith was deposed from his archbishopric,
which was divided into the three lesser dio
ceses of Lindisfarne, Hexham, and York.
Of these the first two were united under
the charge of Bishop Eata, and the latter
was conferred upon Bosa.
In adopting the life of an anchorite, Cuth
berht followed the traditions of his Church.
Seclusion was then held to be meritorious ;
and if it was an error, his apologists might
plead the custom of the age. The disciple
of Columba did not hold, with the poet, that
" We need not bid for cloistered cell
Our neighbours and our work farewell.
The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask —
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To bring us daily nearer God. "
Cuthberht was not of a temperament to
shun a conflict or danger ; he probably con
sidered that in following a usage of the

LINDISFARNE. 151
Church he was maintaining his character
for sanctity, and promoting the work of
evangelisation. In the first instance, he
withdrew to the mainland. Bidding his
brethren an affectionate farewell, he crossed,
staff in hand, the sandy isthmus, and
sought at some distance inland a solitary
abode.1 " On the southern slope," says Eaine, " of
a long ridge of hills, near the village of How-
burn, is a natural cave, which has invari
ably been called St Cuthberht's Cave, or,
in the words of the villagers, ' Cuddy's
Cove,' and which, according to tradition,
was at one period inhabited by the saint.
Is there anything impossible in the sup
position that this was the hermitage for
which, in the first instance, Cuthberht
quitted Lindisfarne? Two things are cer
tain, that the place of his retirement was
1 A staff, evidently fashioned from the tooth of a
narwhal, and which tradition assigns to St Cuthberht,
was preserved in Durham as late as 1838 {see Raine's
North Durham, p. 104).

152 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
not one of the adjacent islands ; and that,
wherever it was, it was at no great dis
tance from the Church to which he be
longed." The cave thus mentioned was probably
Cuthberht's hermitage. From the small
station of Beal it is only a few miles distant,
and it is therefore of easy access from Lin
disfarne. The cave is now used by the
farmers for a sheep-fold. Here Cuthberht
took up his abode; and when the snow-
flakes fell thickly and the wintry blast
howled round his lonely rock, his voice
might be heard reciting the liturgy or chant
ing the hymns of his Church.
One of the most beautiful hymns of this
period was composed by Sedulius, an Irish
theologian and poet; it comprises twenty-
three stanzas. It is here presented in
Canon M'llwaine's translation. %
" From the far rising of the sun
To where his utmost course is run,
Sing we the Christ of Virgin born,
With kingly praise His name adorn.

LINDISFARNE. 153

" Though from eternity His sway,
Our flesh He made His mean array ;
Redeeming thus from endless death
The race that owed to Him its breath.
" The spotless Virgin's favoured womb
Of grace divine becomes the home ;
And wonders, passing human thought,
Unknown and secret, there are wrought.
" The maiden's bosom, pure abode,
Becomes a temple meet for God ;
An earthly partner all unknown —
The Woed her offspring proves alone.
" The mother's thankful arms enfold
The Babe whom Gabriel had foretold ;
Whom, though unborn, with prophet's eye
The Baptist John could yet descry.
" In manger-shed, amidst the kine,
All lowly lies the Babe Divine ;
Milk from a mother's breast is given
To Him who feeds the birds of heaven.
" The heavenly choir their anthem raise —
Angels unite their Lord to praise ;
While to the shepherds of the field
The God Incarnate is revealed.
" Thou, hostile Herod, whence those fears?
Is it that Christ on earth appears 1

154 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
As though He grasped at earthly things
Who rules o'er all, the King of kings !
" The Eastern Magi, from afar,
Eager pursue the guiding star ;
Led by its beam, true light they seek,
And own their God with offerings meek.
" The matron crowd beholds, aghast,
To earth its infant offspring cast ;
Thus, through the tyrant's rage, doth rise
To Christ a spotless sacrifice.
" Where flows the river's cleansing flood
The Lamb of God all meekly stood,
By His obedience to atone
For our transgressions — not His own.
" His wondrous acts for Christ have won
His name — the Eternal Father's Son ;
Before His glance disease hath fled,
To life come forth th' awakened dead.
" The water owns a power Divine,
And, conscious, blushes into wine ;
Its very nature changed, displays
The power Divine that it obeys.
" Lo, the centurion comes to crave
Recovery for his dying slave ;
Such faith can pitying answer claim
And quench e'en fever's scorching flame.

LINDEFARNE. 155

" See Peter walk tie swelling wave,
His Lord's right land outstretched to save ;
The path, which tature's law denies,
To trusting faith still open lies.
" Four days within t'm noisome grave
Lay Lazarus. He comes to save.
Rent by His word ar« Death's strong chains,
As life and light its prey regains.
" Deep crimson stains, a noxious flood,
Pollute the garment eyed with blood ;
A pleading suppliant draws nigh,
And straight the flovdng stream is dry.
" A sufferer, palsied in each limb,
Pours forth his earn(st prayer to Him ;
No pause ensues, no long delay —
Instant he bears his couch away.
" Now hath the traitor basely sold
His Master for the bargained gold ;
The kiss of peace he dares impart
While treason lurks within his heart.
" Vainly the Just, the Holt, pleads,
His back beneath the dread scourge bleeds ;
Nailed to the cross, on either hand,
The vilest of the robber band.
" The Sabbath dawns, and to the tomb,
With unguents rare, fond women come ;

156 C UTHBERHT OF fINDISFARNE.

P

To whom the angel voice is sped :
' Seek not the living) 'midst the dead ! '
' Now raise we all the joyous strain,
With sweet, triumphant, fond refrain ;
The Christ hath conquered ! Death and Hell
Redemption's mighty victory swell !

' Quenched is the'dragon's fiery zeal,
Crushed is the lion 'neath His heel ;
To heaven ascending, Thou hast trod
The path of glory Son of God."

CHAPTEE IX.
CUTHBERHT, THE HERMIT OF FARNE.
" 0 Jesu, teach me like Thyself to fly
This poisonous world, and all its charms defy.
Give me devotion which shall never tire,
Fix'd contemplation which my soul may fire ;
A heavenly tincture in my whole discourse,
A fervent zeal which may my prayers enforce ;
Of heavenly joys a sweet foretasting view,
That I on earth may only Heaven pursue.'' — Bishop Ken.
1UTHBEEHT did not long remain in
the quiet retreat that looked down
upon the valley of the Till. Pro
bably it did not offer the extreme solitude
he desired. We find him, about the close
of 676, constructing a fresh hermitage on
one of the Farne group. The particular
islet which he selected for his new abode
is known as House Island ; it is little more
than two miles distant from the royal rock
of Bamborough, and six from Lindisfarne.

158 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Simeon of Durham describes the spot as
unsuited for habitation, there being no
fresh water, fruit, or trees in the vicinity.
Trees and fruit could scarcely be expected
to flourish on a bare, unsheltered rock ; but
we read that Cuthberht contrived to raise
some barley : his first crop was devoured
by birds. To his brethren who visited him,
he declared that if he could not support
Shimself by the labour of his hands, he would
return to the monastery. One of those
legends, which in various forms are nar-
rate\d of all the principal saints, tells us how
Cuthberht remonstrated with the feathered
plunderers, and how, at his rebuke, they
ceased ^heir depredations. In digging be
neath the flooring of his hut, a spring was
discovered, which supplied Cuthberht with
fresh water.
Farne contains about five acres of grass
land and eleven of rock. The soil is clay
to a depth of six or eight feet. Basaltic
rocks, rising abruptly to a height of eighty
feet above the sea-level, fence the islet on

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 159
the side facing Bamborough. The author
of the " Life of St Bartholomew " describes
the island as " a circle of solid rock, the top
of which is thinly strewn over with a layer
of barren soil. On its south side it is
separated by a channel of about two miles
in breadth from the shore ; to the east and
west a belt of rocks protect it from the fury
of the sea ; while on the north it is open to
the whole force of the waves, in the midst
of which it lies like the broken and defence
less hull of a shipwrecked vessel. Some
times, when the tide rises higher than
usual, and the wild storms of that rugged
coast come to its aid, the waves make an
inroad on the land, and the salt foam is
blown over the whole island, wetting the
shivering inhabitant to the skin, and pene
trating the crevices of his habitation."
How awful and desolating is the power
of the hurricane on those bleak and lonely
isles, let the story of Grace Darling tell.
In the early days of September 1838, a
fearful storm burst on the coast of North-

160 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
umberland. With sixty-three persons on
board, the " Forfarshire " steamer passed
through the Fairway (as the channel is
called which separates the islet from the
mainland), but owing to a leak in her
boilers, the vessel became unmanageable,
and at three o'clock in the morning struck
with tremendous force upon the Hawker
Eocks. The piercing shrieks of the women
mingled with the screams of wild-fowl and
the roaring of the ocean. The shouts of
the despairing crew were heard on the
Longstone Eock by the daughter of the
lighthouse-keeper, and at break of day the
miserable survivors were discerned clinging
to the rocks. William Darling declared it
was impossible to venture out in so heavy
a sea, but his heroic daughter seized an
oar. Her father followed her example, and
by their united exertions nine lives were
saved. Grace Darling was twenty-two years
old when she rowed the frail boat over the
raging waves to the doomed ship. Through
her golden deed her name is inscribed on

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 161
the roll of British heroines, and her memory
associated with the rocks of Farne.
To see Farne as it was in the seventh
century, we must sweep away the tall red
lighthouse with its long reach of white
washed wall, and the three smaller houses
which accommodate the lighthouse-keepers
and their stores. The little chapel, though
it is many hundred years old, was built long
after Cuthberht's time, and Prior CasteU's
Tower is only a work of the fifteenth century.
The view from the island is interesting
and extensive. To the east and north
stretches the barren coast of Northumber
land ; but distance lends enchantment to
the view, softening the rugged outlines of
the sand-hills, while golden furze and green
waving bent lend their varied tints to
mellow and adorn the landscape. South
ward lies the little fishing village of North
Sunderland, and a low ridge of rocks
crowned with the historic ruins of Dunstan-
borough Castle. If tradition affirms truly,
this was once a British stronghold, and would

162 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
have been a conspicuous feature in the
scene in Cuthberht's day ; but no legend of
" Sir Guy the Seeker " would then invest it
with poetic interest, for the Norman fortress
was erected at a later date. Far in the
distance, beyond the green slopes of Monk-
house, rise the rounded summits of the
Cheviot range ; while, as the eye follows
the indentation of the coast, the proud
embattled pile of Bamborough comes into
view. Beyond the grey mass of rock and
masonry are the Kyloe Hills, which look
down on the valley of the Till. To the
south-east the long low isle of Lindisfarne
breaks the sea-line ; and close to Farne lies
another island group — the Staples — separ
ated by a narrow strait. On the Longstone
Eock, in the midst of this dangerous archi
pelago, was reared the lighthouse which
Grace Darling has rendered famous.
On the lonely islet of Farne, Cuthberht
built his hermitage. Bseda describes it
thus : " This dwelling - place was nearly
circular, in measure from wall to wall

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 163
about four or five perches. The wall itself
externally was higher than the stature of a
man, but inwardly, by cutting the living
rock, the pious inhabitant thereof made it
much higher. . . . He constructed this
wall not of hewn stone, nor of brick and
mortar, but of unwrought stones and turf,
which he dug out of the centre of the
place. " The biographer of Cuthberht further
adds — " The dwelling-place was divided
into two parts — an oratory and another
dwelling suitable for common uses. He
constructed the walls of both by digging
round, or by cutting out much of the natural
earth inside and outwardly; but the roof
was formed of rough beams, thatched with
straw." Cuthberht's hermitage probably
resembled the primitive dwellings of the
Irish anchorites, which were by them termed
Carcair, or prison-cells. They were built
of rough stone, with circular walls of great
thickness and dome-shaped roofs.
Near the landing-place Cuthberht con
structed a larger house for the accommoda-

164 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
tion of guests ; but when the weather was
tempestuous, and the monks of Holy Isle
were unable to visit him, weeks would elapse
before his solitude was disturbed. Then it
was that the recluse would feel all the lone
liness of his situation. From the cliffs he
would look over the stormy waters, and
say with the great founder of his sect —
" Delightful would it be to me . . .
On the pinnacle of a rock,
That I might often see
The face of ocean ;
That I might see its heaving waves
When they chant music to their Father
Upon the world's course ;
That I might see the level sparkling sand ;
That I might hear the song of the wonderful birds,
Source of happiness ;
That I might hear the thunder of the crowding waves
Upon the rocks ;
That I might hear the roar by the side of the church
Of the surrounding sea ;
That I might see its noble flocks
Over the watery ocean ;
That I might see the sea-monsters,
Greatest of all wonders ;
That I might see its ebb and flood
In their career.

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 165
That contrition might come upon my heart ;
That I might bewail my evils all,
Though it were difficult to compute them ;
That I might bless the Lord
Who conserves all ;
Heaven with its countless bright orders,
Land, strand, and flood ;
At times kneeling to beloved heaven,
At times psalm-singing,
At times plucking dulse from the rocks,
At times fishing,
At times giving food to the poor,
At times in a carcair."

Cut off from human intercourse, the solitary
surrendered himself to contemplation and
prayer. Hymns, such as the following,
which he learned at Melrose, would be often
upon his lips :
" Thou who all men dost relieve,
Christ, in Thee I do believe ;
Come unto my aid, O Lord,
While I labour for Thy word.
" Hasten to my help, I pray,
Bear my burden every day ;
Of all mankind the maker Thou,
Before Thy throne, our Judge, we bow.

166 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
" 0 Lord of lords, and King of kings !
To Thee all nature homage brings ;
The angels, all alone in state,
In the celestial city wait.
" O God of gods, eternal Light !
0 Lord, most high, most sweet, most bright ;
O God of patience, past all thought ;
0 God, Thou teacher of the taught.
" O God, who hast made all that was,
Of past and present Thou the cause ;
0 Father, for Thy Son's dear sake,
Prepare the way that I shall take.
" And let Thy Holy Spirit guide
My soul through all my wandering wide.
" Christ, lover of the virgin choir ;
Christ, man's Redeemer from hell-fire ;
Christ, fount of wisdom, pure and clear ;
Christ, in whose Word we hope and fear.
" Christ, breastplate in the hour of fight ;
Christ, who has made the world and light.
" Christ, of the dead the living life ;
Christ, of the living, strength in strife ;
Christ, crowner of each conquering soul,
Who count'st it in the martyrs' roll.
" Christ, Saviour of the world so wide ;
Christ on the cross at Passion-tide,

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 167
Christ into depths of hell descends,
Christ into heaven above ascends.
" Be glory to the Father given,
Exalted in the highest heaven ;
All honour to the only Son,
With God the Father ever one ;
And to the Spirit, holiest, blest,
Be equal power and praise addrest :
So be it until time is past,
And while eternity shall last."
Like St Benedict and St Francis of Assisi,
Cuthberht was distinguished for his human
ity to the brute creation. His love of the
feathered tribes is still preserved in the
traditions of the Northumbrian peasantry.
Many quaint legends are told of St Cuth
berht and the birds ; on this subject Charles
Kingsley remarks, that we are not to
believe them; yet they convey lessons of
humanity which reach far beyond the in
dividual existence of Cuthberht. He is
said for instance to have blessed the wild
fowl of Farne, and bequeathed to them his
"peace." Another legend narrates how he
was wont to take up the young fledglings in

168 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
his bosom, while the parent birds followed
him tamely. We have already seen how
he reproved the sparrows who wasted his
little crop ; on another occasion he rebuked
them for destroying the thatch of his guest
house. The sequel tells how they ceased
their depredations, and brought him as a
peace-offering a lump of lard, which Cuth
berht kept to grease the shoes of his visitors.
The Farne Islands were the chosen resort
in the breeding season of innumerable flocks
of sea-birds. For the eider-ducks Cuth
berht cherished a special regard, and with
his successors in the hermitage these birds
were favourites. "In this age of wanton
destruction of wild birds," writes Charles
Kingsley respecting the legends quoted
above, " one is tempted to wish for the re
turn of some such graceful and humane
superstition which could keep down, at
least in the name of mercy and humanity,
the needless cruelty of man."
In tempestuous weather only did Cuth
berht enjoy the solitude he so greatly

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 169
desired, and which he had come to Farne
to seek, for when the sea was calm he had
numerous visitors not only from Lindis
farne, but from "the remotest parts of
Britain," x and his biographer assures us, no
one who sought him in affliction, departed
without consolation. Of his own merits
he always entertained a modest opinion.
Speaking with some of the brethren from
Lindisfarne concerning the events of his
own career, which Boisil had foretold, one
alone he declared remained unfulfilled,
which he hoped would never be accom
plished. He alluded to the prediction that
he would one day occupy the episcopal
throne. It is not to be marvelled at that Cuthberht,
sharing the superstition of the age, should
believe that demons hovered upon the
island. When the wind howled round the
desolate rocks, and the flying foam was
hurled across the strand; when the thunder
pealed, and the lightning flashed, and the
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 22.

170 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
scream of the wild-fowl mingled with the
angry gusts, the solitary recluse might
easily persuade himself that evil spirits
haunted his island home. Near to House
Island are several long chasms or creeks,
known as the Wideopens or "Wedums,"
and the Noxes. To these narrow bounds
Cuthberht, when he arrived in Farne, con
signed the spirits, whose shrieks continually
arose. Occasionally the demons seemed to
assume visible shape and form ; and we read
that Bartholomew, subsequently a hermit in
Farne, and his attendant monks used to see
them " clad in cowls and riding upon goats,
black in complexion, short in stature ; their
countenances most hideous ; their heads
long, and the whole band most horrible in
appearance. At first the sight of the
cross was sufficient to repel their attacks ;
but in the end the only protection was a
fence of straws, signed with the cross, and
fixed in the sands, around which the devils
galloped for a while and then retired, leaving
the brethren to enjoy victory and repose."

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 171

For eight years Cuthberht occupied the
hermitage on Farne Island. The progress
of the Anglic Church during that period has
already been described. The diocese of
York obtained further division. To the see
of Hexham, Tunberct was appointed ; Eata
retained Lindisfarne, and Trumwine was con
secrated Bishop of the Picts. His see was
established at Abercorn in Linlithgowshire ;
it was the only episcopate of the Anglic
Church north of the Cheviots. Probably
about this time, Balthere or Baldred, an
anchorite, founded the monastery of Tyning-
ham on the river Tyne in the Lothians.
Trumwine did not long retain his bishopric,
for in the third year of his settlement, the
turbulent Picts rebelled against the North
umbrian yoke. In 684, Bishop Trumwine
was forced to abandon his see, and seek
refuge with his patron, King Ecgfrith.
Wilfrith — then in a sort of honourable exile
— was absent on a mission to the West
Saxons. Once only do we read of Cuthberht

172 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
quitting his insular retreat. Elfleda, the
princess nun, who had succeeded as abbess
of Whitby the venerated Hild, desired an
interview with him ; and Coquet Isle, then
occupied by a small monastic colony, was
chosen as their place of meeting. After
plying the pious hermit with questions re
lating to ordinary affairs, Elfleda revealed
the real motive of her visit. How many
years, she inquired, would her royal brother
wield the sceptre of Northumbria. It was
in no spirit of idle curiosity that the ques
tion was put. A crisis in political af
fairs was approaching. Already weakened
by the long struggle with Mercia, and by
years of foreign warfare, the Northumbrian
kingdom was now menaced by an invasion
of the Picts. Knowing her brother's rest
less ambition, and seeing on how insecure a
basis his power rested, Elfleda wished to
ascertain whether Cuthberht shared - her
apprehensions. The hermit of Farne at
first attempted to evade the question, but
the abbess pressed him to declare his senti-

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 173
ments. " Thou knowest," said she, "Ecgfrith
has neither son nor brother to be his suc
cessor, who then will inherit his kingdom 1 "
Then Cuthberht replied, "Say not that
King Ecgfrith is without heirs, for he shall
have a successor whom thou shalt embrace
with the affection of a sister." " But," pro
ceeded Elfleda, " where may this successor
be found 1 " " Behold the sea," Cuthberht
rejoined, "how it abounds in isles, out of
one of these may God, if He will, provide a
ruler for Northumbria." Then Elfleda
understood that he referred to Alchfrith,
the base-born son of Oswin, who was at
that time a voluntary exile in the Western
Isles. Before the termination of the interview,
Elfleda strongly urged Cuthberht to accept
the bishopric which Ecgfrith was willing to
bestow upon him. Cuthberht at first reso
lutely declined the honour; but at last
moved by her entreaties, and remembering
the prediction of Boisil, he declared that if
he could as a bishop render the state better

174 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
service at such a crisis, he would no longer
reject the dignity. He stipulated, however,
that at the end of two years, he might be
permitted to return to his hermitage, and
finish his days in Farne. With this reluc
tant admission, the Abbess of Whitby was
forced to be content.
On her return, Elfleda probably visited
her royal brother, and communicated to
him Cuthberht's acquiescence. Soon after
wards the hermit of Farne was summoned
to take part in the synod of Twyford-on-
Alne,1 which was convened about the close
of the same year. For some reason, not
satisfactorily explained, Bishop Tunberct
had been deposed. The Archbishop of
Canterbury presided, and among the mem
bers present were King Ecgfrith and the
fugitive Bishop Trumwine. Cuthberht did
not appear, regretting probably his promise
to Elfleda. On the suggestion of the king,
and with the concurrence of the churchmen
and laics assembled in council, Cuthberht
1 Basda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 28.

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 175
was unanimously elected to the vacant see
of Hexham.
Letters were at once despatched to ac
quaint him with the honour which had
been done him. From all pleading, how
ever, he turned away. Nothing could in
duce him to exchange his solitary cell in
Farne for the staff and mitre of a conse
crated bishop. Probably he felt himself to
be, in comparison with Eoman ecclesias
tics, a rude and unlettered man, and did
not care to mingle in the intrigues of a
court, where his advice would necessarily
be in opposition to those who fostered the
vain-glory of an ambitious monarch. Not
till Ecgfrith in person visited Farne, and
joined his entreaties to those of Bishop
Trumwine and the powerful nobles and
ecclesiastics of his kingdom, was Cuthberht
induced to alter his decision. Proceeding
to Bamborough, the king, with his attend
ants, was thence rowed to the rocky islet.
To the royal pleading Cuthberht yielded at
last, but with reluctance. He stipulated

176 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
that he might be allowed to spend the time
between his election and consecration in
his hermitage. The request was granted;
and Cuthberht, after a brief visit to the
Northumbrian court, returned to Farne.1
His consecration was fixed for the following
Easter. Early in the winter of 684-5,
Cuthberht visited at Melrose his former
superior, Eata, and arranged with him an
exchange of dioceses. Eata preferred that
Cuthberht should have the superintendence
of the monastery and see of Lindisfarne,
and himself undertook the see of Hexham,
to which Cuthberht had been appointed.
Easter of the year 685 fell on the 26th
March. On that day the prediction uttered
by Boisil twenty-one years before, was ful
filled, Cuthberht being consecrated in the
minster of St Peter at York. Besides the
Archbishop of Canterbury, six prelates as
sisted at the ceremonial, which the king
attended in person. Before leaving York,
Ecgfrith bestowed on Cuthberht a grant
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 25.

THE HERMIT OF FARNE. 177
of land extending "from the wall of St
Peter to the great gate westwards, and to
the city wall southwards," together with
the village of Crayke, the old city of Lugu-
balia or Carlisle, and a circuit of fifteen
miles around.1
1 Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 26.

CHAPTEE X.
CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP.
"Temperance, proof
Against all trials ; industry severe
And constant as the motion of the day ;
Stern self-denial round him spread, with shade
That might he deemed forbidding, did not there
All generous feelings flourish and rejoice;
Forbearance, charity in deed and thought,
And resolution competent to take
Out of the bosom of simplicity
All that her holy customs recommend. "
— Wordsworth, Meewrsion, b. vii.
I"T|H|'oIKE many of his predecessors, Ecg-
l|pt[ frith was the victim of unregulated
!==¦» ambition. War and conquest con
stantly occupied his thoughts. His rivalry
with the King of Mercia cost much blood
shed ; in a subsequent campaign in Ireland
his arms were successful. But the inhabi
tants of the "plain of Bregh," which he
cruelly ravaged, invoked the Divine venge
ance on their oppressor. A few weeks

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 179
after Cuthberht's consecration was planned
an invasion of Pictland, then governed by
a king named Bruide.1 Eemonstrances were
unheeded. Deaf to the pleadings of his
wisest counsellors, Ecgfrith departed on the
fatal expedition. The presage of disaster
cast over the land its gloomy shadow. Men
remembered the imprecations of the op
pressed Irish, and the burden of impending
calamity was felt universally. In her sister's
convent at Carlisle, Ecgfrith 's consort, Eor-
menburh, awaited the result.
In connection with the expedition, fated
to be in its issue so disastrous, occurred
a remarkable incident. In common with
Columba and other Celtic saints, Cuth
berht was credited with the faculty of " the
second sight." In the vision of Bishop
Aidan, which decided his choice of the
monastic profession, the gift had been ex
emplified. Once more, at a time of great
national danger, the power of the seer de
scended upon him, and in a vision was
i Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 26.

180 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
revealed to him the destruction of the
Northumbrian host and its royal leader.
It happened that shortly after the departure
of the army, the newly-appointed bishop
visited Carlisle. The townsfolk, with Paga,
their reeve, sought to do honour to their
bishop. On the afternoon of the 20th May,
as Cuthberht was passing the town- wall on
his way to the Eoman fountain, he suddenly
halted, leaning on his staff. To his attend
ants his countenance betrayed severe mental
agitation. His eyes were bent upon the
ground; but presently he turned his gaze
to the sky, over which thick clouds were
gathering, and groaning deeply, uttered in
soliloquy : " Perchance even now the con
test is decided." A priest among the by
standers urged him to explain his strange
ejaculation.1 Cuthberht answered, as if he
were reluctant to reveal the nature of his
vision. " Do you not see," said he, " how
wonderfully the sky is changed and dis
turbed. Who can understand the judgments
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 27 ; Anon. Vit., iv. 37.

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 181

of the Almighty ? " Eeturning to the con
vent, he sought an interview with the queen.
"Take heed," he said, "that you get into
your chariot early on Monday morning, for
it is not lawful to drive on the Sabbath.1
Depart with speed to the royal city (York),
for haply the king may be slain. To-morrow
I have to visit a neighbouring monastery to
consecrate a church. When the service is
finished I will follow you."
On Sunday Cuthberht preached, exhort
ing his hearers to prepare themselves for
tribulation. " I beseech you, my beloved,"
said the bishop, " to watch, remain steadfast
in the faith, act manfully, and be comforted,
that no temptation may find you unprepared. "
The trouble was soon declared. On
Monday a warrior, belonging to the army
of the absent monarch, reached Carlisle.
He bore evil tidings. Ecgfrith had crossed
the Tay unopposed, his foes, by a feigned
retreat, luring him into the fastnesses and
heathy wilds of the Grampians. The North -
1 Thorpe's Ancient Laws, p. 420.

182 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
umbrian host pursued eagerly, and at last
overtook them in a defile of Dunnichen.
There the Picts turned to bay, and a
desperate conflict ensued. On the day,
and at the hour, that Cuthberht leaned sor
rowfully upon his staff at Carlisle, Ecgfrith
fell in battle, and those of his army who
did not share his fate were made prisoners
or scattered. The soldier who brought in
telligence of the disaster had travelled day
and night, pausing not till he reached Car
lisle. In this conflict a decisive check was given
to the rule of the Northumbrian kings;
nor did they regain their supremacy for a
period of more than fifty years, till the
reign of Eadberct. The scene of the con
flict is still pointed out in the parish of
Dunnichen in Forfarshire. At the foot of
a hill, formerly crowned by a fortified en-
closure: — (whence the name of the locality,
Dun Achan or "hill-fort of the valley," is
derived) — lies a marshy strip of land. „ This
is designated the "mire " of Dunnichen, and

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 183
is preserved in the name of Nechtansmere,
by which the battle was known to the
ancient chroniclers. Near Eescobie on the
shoulder of a hill, the remains of a fort are
visible. The battle-field is under cultivation,
but memorials of the struggle are occa
sionally discovered. On the East Mains or
farm of Dunnichen, the ploughshare re
vealed a flat stone, on which was graved
the rude outline of a warrior's head and
shoulders. Cinerary urns of red clay,
coarsely ornamented and filled with ashes,
and mounds containing human bones, have
also been dug up. These indications of a
desperate conflict, attended with great loss
of life, sufficiently identify the spot as the
scene of the battle.
Bishop Trumwine, who had accompanied
the invading army, was forced permanently
to abandon his see of Abercorn. The family
of monks were dispersed among various
monasteries ; the bishop established his own
residence at Whitby.1 There he survived
i Bseda, Hist. Eccles., iv. 26.

184 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
many years the battle of Nechtansmere.
The body of King Ecgfrith, discovered on
the fatal field, was at the request of Abbot
Adamnan, who obtained it from the con
querors, conveyed to lona, and there hon
ourably interred.1
Overwhelmed by the loss of her husband,
Queen Eormenburh found a retreat in her
sister's convent at Carlisle. Affliction chas
tened her imperious nature ; in the words of
Wilfrith's biographer, she was transformed
" from a she-wolf into a lamb." 2
Alchfrith, illegitimate brother of the late,
king, was summoned from his retirement at
Hii to succeed Ecgfrith.3 Bseda styles him
"a man most learned in Scripture, who
nobly retrieved the ruined state of the
kingdom, though within narrower bounds."
Abundantly energetic, and trained in the
school of affliction, Alchfrith was both a
cultivator and patron of learning. With
1 Reeves' Adamnan, 8vo, p. 232.
2 Eddi, Life of Wilfrith, p. 24.
3 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 24.

CUTHBERH7 THE BISHOP. 185
Adamnan he contracted a special intimacy ;
and the Abbot of Hii twice visited him
after his succession. From him Benedict
Biscop received countenance and help.
From the date of his nomination by the
synod of Twyford, Cuthberht's tenure of
office lasted about two years. It was long
remembered by his flock. His faith in the
unseen upheld him when calamity over
shadowed the land ; while he endeared him
self to all by his humility and beneficence.
His promotion to episcopal rank made no
difference in his manner of life. Accord
ing to the simple statement of his anony
mous biographer, " he continued to be the
same man as he had been before."1 "His
discourses," writes Bseda, " were clear and
plain; full of dignity and gentleness; he
possessed the happy gift to know when to
be silent, and when to speak; when to
command, and when to reprove; when to
distil the sweet balm of comfort, and when
to rejoice with those who rejoiced. What
1 Anon. Vit., v. 4.

186 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
he taught others he himself first did.1 He
was," adds the venerable historian, "in
flamed with the fire of divine charity ; and to
give counsel and help to the weak, he con
sidered equal to an act of prayer; knowing
that He who said, 'Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God,' also said, ' Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.' " We further
learn that he practically carried out the
precepts of his Master, to feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, and protect the widow
and orphan.
Cuthberht's episcopate of two years was
chiefly occupied in journeying to different
parts of his diocese. Eespecting his good
deeds are related many legends. On one
occasion he visited the house of an earl
whose wife was believed to be dying. The
nobleman warmly greeted him as he entered,
proffering hospitality; but until Cuthberht
had refreshed himself by washing his hands
and feet, he forbore to mention his affliction.
He then told the bishop of his wife's illness,
1 Bajda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 26.

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 187
desiring him to bless some water, that it
might be sprinkled upon her. Cuthberht
acquiesced, and from the moment the conse
crated water touched the dying woman, her
disease was arrested, and she began to re
cover. So quickly was she restored, the
legend adds, that she was able to rise and
in person present to the bishop the loving-
cup, which constituted an important feature
in Anglo-Saxon banquets.1
Among the nuns, who, after the battle
of Dunnichen, sought refuge in the south
ern monasteries, was one, whose brother,
Ethelwald, subsequently became Abbot of
Melrose. For a year she had suffered from
pains in the head and side which had
impaired her health, but on Cuthberht
anointing her with consecrated oil, the pain
diminished, and she recovered.
In the course of his pastoral visits, Cuth
berht was called upon to confront his old
enemy — the pestilence, which, in the year
following the battle of Dunnichen, deso-
i Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 29.

188 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
lated Northumbria. The rustic popula
tion were in several instances forced to
abandon their homes, and many villages
were wholly deserted.1 With the courage
of his earlier years, Cuthberht went fear
lessly among the sufferers, ministering to
the sick and dying, and bestowing consola
tion upon the survivors. A legend relates,
how, like the Jewish prophet, he, by a kiss,
restored to life, a lad, the only son of his
mother, who was smitten by the pestilence.
Some time in the year 686, Cuthberht
made a second journey to Carlisle. The
widowed consort of King Ecgfrith, who had
passed the period of her novitiate, was
about as a professed nun to assume the veil,
and Cuthberht desired to be present at the
ceremony. During his visit, Cuthberht had
an interview with Hereberht, the hermit of
Derwentwater. After some conversation
he said, " Speak now freely to me, brother
Hereberht, of any undertaking you have in
hand, for after we separate, we shall meet
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 33 ; Anon. Vit., iv. 35.

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 189

no more in this life. I am certain the
hour of my death is not distant." Greatly
moved by these words, Hereberht threw
himself at the feet of his aged friend, weep
ing and adjuring him not to leave him, but
for the great love they bore to one another,
to entreat the Almighty that He would
suffer them, when their allotted time came,
to die at the same time. Then Cuthberht,
raising the hermit, reassured him, saying,
" Eejoice, for God in His mercy has granted
our request." 1 The sequel, Bseda is careful
to note, proved the truth of the bishop's
prophecy. The hardships and labours of his earlier
years, and the austerities which he practised
in his hermitage on Farne Island, had under
mined a constitution once robust. Before
the expiry of the two years to which he had
restricted his tenure of office, he resolved
to resign his see, and return to his cell at
Farne. He was already past middle age;
for, assuming that at the time of his enter-
i Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 28.

190 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
ing in 651 the monastery of Melrose he was
in his seventeenth year, his age would be
fifty-two. According to those writers who
place his birth between the years 626 and
630, he would be still older. But he felt
less the weight of years than the burden of
increasing infirmities. His constitution had
not recovered the effects of the pestilence
which prostrated him in 664; and now,
when the excitement which had sustained
him through the troubled period that fol
lowed Ecgfrith's death was over, and the
land was at peace, he felt that his pilgrim
age was approaching its close. Before,
however, taking the step he meditated, he
made a farewell visitation through his dio
cese, exhorting his flock from house to
house. At the request of Elfleda, he tra
velled to Whitby, where she had founded
a church which she desired him to conse
crate. Bseda relates the circumstances of
this visit, which was distinguished by more
than one exercise of miraculous powers.1
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 34; Anon. Vit., iv. 39.

CUTHBERHT THE BISHOP. 191
With this personal visitation terminated
the episcopate of Cuthberht. If his term
of office was not long, he well performed its
duties. In the guest-hall of the noble and
in the hut of the peasant his presence was
welcomed. " In all things," writes the monk
of Lindisfarne, "he observed the apostolic
injunction that ' a bishop must be blameless
as the steward of God ; not self-willed, not
soon angry, not given to wine, no striker,
not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of
hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just,
holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful
word as he hath been taught, that he may
be able by sound doctrine both to exhort
and to convince the gainsayers.' '

CHAPTEE XI.
REST.
" ' For ever with the Lord ! '
Father, if 'tis Thy will,
The promise of that faithful word
E'en here to me fulfil.
" So when my latest breath
Shall rend the veil in twain,
By death I shall escape from death,
And life eternal gain."
|||n|g||TTH the monks in Holy Isle, Cuth-
IfflFili berht celebrated the Christmas of
IVaSJ' 686, and immediately thereafter
withdrew to his much -loved solitude at
Farne. Feeling that the labours of his
active life had earned for him a peaceful
retirement, he did not contemplate a return
to the world. On the shore a number of
the monks assembled to bid farewell to
their revered pastor. Among them was an
infirm old man. " Tell us, my lord bishop,"

REST. 193
said he, " when we may hope for your re
turn." Cuthberht replied — "When you
shall bring back my body." x
Notwithstanding his health, Cuthberht
resumed the austere practice by which he
had formerly regulated himself. From Bseda
we learn the pleasing fact that he was not
forgotten at Lindisfarne; by the brethren
he was often visited. They desired to
render assistance in case of sudden illness,
and to receive the last advice of one re
nowned for his blameless life.
Of the last few weeks of Cuthberht's life,
we possess a minute and graphic account in
the 37th chapter of Bseda's prose biography.
The narrative is given in the words of
Herefrith, "the priest," eye-witness and
actor in the scenes which he describes.
He was then Abbot of Lindisfarne. To
this office he appears to have been ap
pointed on Cuthberht's retirement.
The months of January and February
passed uneventfully. Cuthberht received
i Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 37.
N

194 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
his visitors outside his cell, which, according
to his wish, no one ventured to enter.
Early on a Thursday morning in March,
Herefrith, accompanied by a few of the
brethren, visited the island. On approach
ing the hermitage, their greeting met with
no response but a deep sigh. Then in
feeble tones Cuthberht explained that dur
ing the night sudden illness had attacked
him. He refused, however, to admit his
visitors ; and giving them his blessing, bade
them return to Lindisfarne. "When the
Lord shall have taken my spirit," said the
solitary, " return, and bury me in this house
near the oratory, towards the south, over
against the eastern side of the holy cross
which I there erected. At the north side
of the same oratory is a stone coffin, hidden
beneath turf, which Abbot Cudda gave me.
Place my body therein, and swathe it in
the fine linen you will find in the coffin."
Before leaving, Herefrith entreated his
friend to allow some of the brethren to
remain and minister to his need. The re-

REST. 195
quest was refused, and the little company
reluctantly embarked. A violent storm
prevented their return until five days had
elapsed. When they again visited the island,
they beheld a sad spectacle. Cuthberht had
dragged himself from his cell into the guest
house, on the floor of which he lay pros
trate. His face was ghastly and drawn
with pain and fasting. After bathing his
sores and causing him to partake of food
and wine, Herefrith seated himself beside
the dying bishop to receive his last instruc
tions. Their conversation was brief. Cuth
berht, who was hardly recovered from the
delirium of fever, spoke of the persecutions
he had undergone during the past five
nights, but which were now over.1 At
Herefrith's entreaty he consented to receive
some of the brethren as his attendants. At
the same time he repeatedly averred that it
1 Mediseval superstition pictured the grotesque and
hideous fiends which disturbed the last hours of St
Cuthberht. A window-painting in York Minster re
presents the dying bishop surrounded by winged demons
of repulsive form and malicious aspect.

196 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
was revealed to him as the will of God,
that in his last hours he should be left
without human aid. Among those who
were selected to wait upon him were Bseda
the elder, and Walstod, then himself an
invalid. Herefrith with the other brethren
rowed back to Lindisfarne, but in a few
days returned. Then he communicated to
Cuthberht the earnest request of the monks,
that he would grant permission for his
body to be buried in their monastery. He
at first refused, saying it was his wish to
rest where he had for the Lord wrestled
and overcome. " Moreover," he added, " I
think it better for you that I should here
repose, on account of the fugitives and
criminals who may flee to my tomb for re
fuge; and when they have thus obtained
an asylum (inasmuch as I have enjoyed the
fame, humble though I am, of being a ser
vant of Christ), you may think it necessary
to intercede for such before the secular
rulers, and so you may have trouble on my
account." As Herefrith and the other

REST. 197
brethren still urged their request, Cuthberht
at length said : " Since you seem wishful
to overcome my scruples, and to carry my
body to Lindisfarne, it seems to me that it
will be the best plan to bury it in the in
most part of the church, so that you may
be able to visit my tomb yourselves, and
control the visits of others." They thanked
him for this permission and counsel, and
continued to pay him almost daily visits.
On the 19th of March, Herefrith and
others carried the dying bishop into his
little cell. Walstod went inside with him,
" no one entering therein but himself." Six
hours thus passed away, and about three in
the afternoon, Herefrith found Cuthberht
lying in a corner of the oratory, opposite
the altar. He took his seat beside him, and
begged him to send a farewell message to
the brethren. Very faintly the voice which
had stirred vast multitudes, uttered at in
tervals some words of counsel. " Let peace
and Divine love," said the dying bishop,
" ever be among you." Then he spoke of

198 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
the duty of unanimity of agreement with
other servants of Christ, and of hospitality
to strangers. "Avoid all hypocrisy and
self-righteousness," said he. The next in
junction is remarkable, breathing the con
troversial spirit of the age : " Hold no com
munion with those who err from the unity
of the Catholic faith, either by observing
Easter out of its time, or by living per
versely."1 "Study diligently," pursued
Cuthberht, "carefully observe the Catholic
rules of the Fathers, and practise with
earnest zeal those monastic regulations in
which I have instructed you ; for I know
that in my lifetime some have despised me,
but after my death it will be seen that my
teaching should not be contemned."
Such is the account of the last words of
Cuthberht, which Bseda asserts he received
directly from Herefrith. The rest of the
day passed tranquilly. When the hour of
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 39. This injunction, if genuine,
would intimate that the Scotic party had not been
completely expelled from Northumbria.

REST. 199
nocturnal prayer was come, he received
from Herefrith " the Communion of the
Lord's body and blood to strengthen him
for his departure ; " x and, " with eyes gazing
heavenward, and hands lifted high above
his head,2 he breathed his last in a sitting
posture, passing away without a groan.3
This event took place on the morning of
Wednesday the 20th March 687.
On the day and at the hour when the
spirit of Cuthberht took flight, his dear
friend, the hermit-priest of Derwentwater,
breathed his last. Hereberht had long been
sick, and the story of his decease is thus beau
tifully celebrated by the poet Wordsworth :
" If thou, in the dear love of some one friend,
Hast been so happy that thou know'st what thoughts
Will sometimes, in the happiness of love,
Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence
This quiet spot ; and, stranger, not unmoved,
Wilt thou behold this shapeless heap of stones—
The desolate ruins of St Herbert's cell.

i Bseda, De Mirac. S. Cuth., p. 36.
2 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 39.
3 Idem, Hist. Eccles., iv. 28.

200 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
Here stood his threshold ; here was spread the roof
That sheltered him, a self-secluded man,
After long exercises in social care
And offices humane, intent to adore
The Deity with undistracted mind,
And meditate on everlasting things
In utter solitude. But he had left
A fellow-labourer, whom the good man loved
As his own soul ; and when, with eye upraised
To heaven, he knelt before the crucifix,
While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore
Pealed to his orisons, and when he paced
Along the beach of this small isle, and thought
Of his companion, he would pray that both,
Now that their earthly duties were fulfilled,
Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain
So prayed he, as our chronicles report.
Though here the hermit numbered his last day,
Far from St Cuthbert, his beloved friend,
These holy men both died in the same hour."
As soon as the spirit of Cuthberht had
passed away, Herefrith announced the
event to the brethren who accompanied
him. By the flickering light of a couple of
torches was the sad intelligence telegraphed
to the monks of Lindisfarne.1 They were
chanting the first verse of the 60th Psalm,
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 40.

REST. 201
" O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast
scattered us, Thou hast been displeased;
O turn Thyself to us again ! "
The mourners returned to Lindisfarne,
conveying their sad burden.1 A multitude
of clerics and laics met them at the land
ing-place, and accompanied them, singing
psalms, to the place of burial. The funeral
obsequies were reverently performed. After
being washed, the body was swathed in a fine
linen sheet, well rubbed with wax, the gift of
Abbess Varca^ It was then clothed in the
vestments which pertained to the episcopal
rank, and in a stone coffin deposited at the
right side of the altar in St Peter's Church.
A kerchief enveloped the head, and on the
breast were placed " offletes " or wafers, spe
cially prepared for the eucharist.2 Eleven
years later, according to the monkish chron
iclers, when Cuthberht's tomb was opened for
the purpose of enshrining his remains, the
body was found perfect and without decay;
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 40.
2 Eyre, Life of St Cuthberht, p. 81.

202 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
The coffin which enclosed Cuthberht's re
mains, Eeginald of Durham describes as a
quadrangular chest of black oak, orna
mented with delicate carvings, the lid being
flat and level. At the head and foot rings
were inserted, by which it was raised and
lowered. The chest was surrounded by an
outer case of timber, bound with hides and
secured by hasps and bands. A shrine, of
more elaborate workmanship, and richly
adorned with gold and gems, enclosed the
whole.1 When the Northmen began to make
descents on the English coasts, the costly
shrine was removed from one locality to
another to escape the invaders. At Chester-
le-Street it remained for a century. Eipon
for a time received it; but not until the
year 999 did the body of Cuthberht find
its final resting-place, within the walls of
Durham Cathedral. Behind the high altar
of that noble edifice the ashes of the pious
1 Reg. Dunelm. Lib. de Admirandis B. Cuthberti,
cap. 43.

REST. 203
bishop have an honoured sepulchre. A
plain blue marble slab in the chapel of the
Nine Altars marks the place of sepulture.
In 1827 the tomb was opened, and the dry
bones of the saint were discovered swathed
in the remnants of what had been a richly
embroidered robe, figured with the portraits
and names of saints, and adorned with a
golden cross. These, with other relics of
St Cuthberht, are preserved in the Cathe
dral Library.
Besides being the titular saint of the
north of England, Cuthberht's memory was
widely venerated in other parts of the king
dom. In Scotland numerous churches have
been erected in his honour. Of these the
most noted were Kirkcudbright, which pre
served his name, Maxton, Ednam, Lorn in
Argyleshire, and St Cuthberht's Church at
Eadwinsburgh.1 Through the presents of
devotees, his shrine at Durham became
wealthy. To quote the words of Montalem-
bert : " The extreme veneration with which
i Kal. Scot. Saints, pp. 317-319.

204 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
the Saxon people surrounded the relics of
St Cuthberht made this church (Durham)
the best endowed in England. The humble
anchorite, who had lived on his rock by the
modest produce of his manual labour alone,
thus created the richest benefice, after
Toledo, in Christendom." x A banner of red
velvet, with silk and gold embroidery, enclos
ing relics of the saint, was borne on many a
battle-field. Eichard III. took it with him
to York in his progress through the king
dom; and as late as Flodden in 1514, it
was carried in front of the English army.
Its presence was believed to secure victory.2
The fate of this interesting relic has already
been described.
To Cuthberht's relics miraculous healing
powers were ascribed. From all parts of
1 Monks of the West, iv. 422.
2 A legend runs that St Cuthberht appeared in a
vision to King Alfred, and promised him victory over
the Danes. Canute prayed at his shrine, and William
the Conqueror respected the tomb of the Anglo-Saxon
bishop. With the name of St Cuthberht are associated
the battles of the Standard and Neville's Cross.

REST. 205
England invalids were conveyed to Lindis
farne, and there placed before his tomb.1
Pilgrims annually visited Durham in large
numbers on the 2d March, which was cele
brated as his festival.
In these pages we have dwelt more upon
Cuthberht the man than upon Cuthberht
the saint; more upon his human, lovable
qualities than on his miraculous powers.
His pure, unspotted life, native benevolence,
and unswerving zeal, won for his memory a
respect which has never perished; while
the miracles ascribed to him in the super
stitious spirit of the age are, as idle inven
tions, forgotten or despised. It is always a
difficult matter to draw the line between
fact and fiction ; but even among much that
is necessarily rejected as absurd or impos
sible, it is not hard to trace the outlines of
a noble nature, worthy of being quoted as a
pattern in all time and in every land.
The supernatural element which so largely
predominates in the biographies of Bseda
i Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., pp. 41, 44, 45.

206 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
and Eeginald of Durham, is easily accounted
for. The credulity of the age demanded
not merely a faithful pastor, but a wonder
working saint; and the Bishop of Lindis
farne was the only one who could with pro
priety be selected. Eaine on this subject
remarks : "Aidan, the first bishop, held
erroneous notions with respect to the ob
servance of Easter; Finian was still more
heterodox; and Colman defended the cus
tom of his predecessors. Tuda, the next
bishop, died before he had an opportunity
of enriching a future legend; and any
miracle which might have been performed
by Eata, his successor, would have been
equally claimed by the see of Hexham."1
Cuthberht, accordingly, was the first bishop
on whom the dignity of patron saint could
fairly be conferred. On the vexed questions
of Easter celebration and clerical tonsure,
he was at one with the Church of Eome,
while his pure and simple life eminently
fitted him for being accounted the apostle
1 Raine's North Durham, p. 62.

REST. 207
and patron of the Northumbrian Church.
Without, therefore, reposing credit in the
fantastic legends of his enthusiastic biogra
phers, we may in Cuthberht behold one
who was adorned with the spirit, and trod
in the footsteps of the early apostles.
After the death of Cuthberht, Wilfrith
was, in the see of Lindisfarne, appointed
his successor. His tenure of office was
short ; for about a year later we find Ead-
berct acting as bishop.1 The intolerance
of Wilfrith towards those who differed from
him in doctrine alienated the affection and
support of his royal patron ; and five years
later he was removed from the diocese of
York. He appealed to Eome against Alch-
frith's decision ; but although the papal
court decided in his favour the king re
mained firm, and he had to content himself
with only a portion of his diocese. During
the remaining years of his career, he gov
erned the monasteries of Eipon and Hex
ham. At the latter place he began to erect
1 Bseda, Vit. Cuthb., p. 40.

208 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
a church dedicated to the Virgin; he did
not survive to see its completion. He died
in 709, and was buried near the high altar
in the church of St Peter at Eipon. The
monastery which he had there founded, was
subsequently destroyed by the Danes ; but
after the conquest, Archbishop Aeldred re
built and endowed it. A narrow archway
called St Wilfrith's needle is still pointed
out in the chapel.
Wilfrith was succeeded in the diocese of
Hagulstad or Hexham by Acca, who dis
tinguished himself by his zeal in preserving
relics of the saints, and collecting materials
for a library. Acca was a pupil of Bishop
Bosa of York, and had accompanied Wil
frith in his wanderings and exile.
In 688, Adamnan, Abbot of Hii, who
had repaired and beautified that ancient
monastery, visited the court of Alchfrith,
and had an interview with Abbot Ceolfrid
at Jarrow. Through the instruction of
this able priest, the friend of Biscop, the
Columban abbot was converted to the

REST. 209
Eoman faith. On his return he endeavoured
to introduce among the monks of lona the
new doctrines, and especially the regulation
respecting the celebration of Easter. The
innovations were unfavourably received by
the Scotic monks, but at the synod of Tara,
in 697; the Irish clergy gave their submis
sion. In 706, while Dunchad was abbot,
Ecgbert, a Saxon priest, succeeded in con
verting a portion of the community at Hii.
The remainder, who still continued obstinate
in their opposition, were by a decree of
Naiton, King of the Northern Picts — a
convert of Ceolfrid — deprived of their offices.
Thus terminated the supremacy of lona over
the Columban Churches.
About ten years later an Anglic see was
established at Whithern in Galloway; in
731, Picthelm was consecrated bishop. The
monastery was built on a peninsula jutting
out into the sea, which, like Lindisfarne,
became at high tide an island. Here in
397, Ninian had built a chapel of white
stone, known as Candida Casa, the white

210 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
house. The Church at Whithern continued
to flourish under a long line of Anglic
bishops, until the power of the northern
kingdoms began to wane, and the natives
asserting their independence banished their
instructors. But the fame of the establish
ment did not diminish. The remains of St
Ninian were interred in the monastery, and
until the year 1581, when an Act of Par
liament condemned the practice, pilgrims
flocked to his shrine.1
Bseda does not bring down his history
further than the close of the year 731 ; but
from other sources we gather the principal
ecclesiastical events of the period which
succeeded the expulsion from lona of the
Columban monks. Up to Ecgbert's death
in 729, a strong party remained in the
monastery who strictly opposed the Eoman
innovations, refusing to adopt the coronal
tonsure. This opposition continued for
forty years later. Then followed the period
of the Danish invasions. In 806, the
1 Dawson's Statist. Account of Scot., p. 1068. ,

REST. 211
Abbot of Hii, together with his "family,"
numbering sixty-eight persons, were cruelly
slaughtered; and the timber fabric of the
monastery broken up and levelled. The
seat of the Columban order was now re
moved to Kells in Meath. The stone coffin
containing the remains of Columba was
disinterred, and enshrined in the Church
of St Patrick on the shores of Strangfof d
Loch. In 818, the establishment of lona
was revived, the new abbot presenting to
his brethren the relics of their patron saint.
The new monastery was constructed of stone,
and the costly shrine was carefully concealed
by a curtain of masonry, lest it should
tempt the cupidity of northern rovers. A
monk named Blethnac was put to death for
refusing to reveal the shrine to a band of
pirates. About the middle of the ninth
century, King Kenneth Macalpine restored
to his dominions the church of St Columba.
Dunkeld was selected as the central seat of
the new establishment. The bishopric was
subsequently transferred to Abernethy, the

212 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.
old Pictish capital, near which a round
tower still exists, which may have been
somehow associated with the Irish clergy,
who assisted in reconstructing the Colum
ban Church.
In Ireland, and at a later period in Scot
land, the expulsion of the Columban clergy
was followed by the appearance of an
irregular sect of clerics, historically known
as the Culdees. Into the vexed question of
their origin we will not enter; it is clear
that their existence was a revival of the old
eremitical life, without that isolation which
was its principal feature. Associating in
communities, they adopted a dress and dis
cipline closely resembling that of the Col
umban clergy ; and like the monks of lona
were characterised by a fierce opposition to '
Eoman doctrine. But not until the days
of Wycliffe did a reformer arise to protest
against the assumption and superstition of
the Popedom, and lead back the Anglic
Church into the old paths.

APPENDIX.

BISHOPS OF LINDISFARNE.

Aidan,
Finian, Colman,
Tuda, .
Eata, .
Cuthberht,
Wilfrith,Eadberct,

A.D.
635651 661
664678
685 687
688

II.

KINGS OF NORTHUMBRIA.

Ethelfrith, .
Eadwin,Eanfrith (in Bernicia),
Osric (in Deira), .

A.D.
593617
633

214 CUTHBERHT OF LINDISFARNE.

A.D.

Oswald, 

634

Oswin (in JBemicia), .

| 642

Oswine (in Deira),

Oswin (sole king),

651
Ecgfrith, ....
670
Alchfrith, ....
685
III.
TABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS.
Battle of Heathfield ; death of Eadwin,
A.D.
633
Battle of Hefenfield, ....
634
Aidan, first Bishop of Lindisfarne,
635
Battle of Maserfield, .
642
Death of Aidan, .
651
Conversion of Peada, .
653
Wilfrith at Eome,
654
Battle of Winwoed,
655
Monastery of Whitby founded,
656
Wilfrith at Eipon,
661
Conference of Whitby,
664
Pestilence at Melrose, .
664
Wilfrith appointed to the see of York, .
664
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, .
669
Death of Oswin of Northumbria; Ecgfritl
i
succeeds,
670
APPENDIX.

215

Synod of Hertford, ....
Birth of Beeda, 
Benedict Biscop founds Wearmouth Mon
astery, 
Cuthberht retires to Farne Island,
Council of Hatfield, ....
Death of Hild, Abbess of Whitby,
Trumwine consecrated Bishop of the Picts,
Foundation of Jarrow Monastery,
Cuthberht, Bishop of Lindisfarne,
Battle of Dunnichen, ....
Death of Cuthberht 
Death of Wilfrith, ....

A.D.
673 673 674 676 680 680681 685
685 685 687
709

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